LOS ANGELES — Crime is trending down in Los Angeles, with homicides alone on track to fall 15% compared to last year, but newly sworn-in LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell is concerned that statistics aren’t telling the full story. In the 15 years he has been away from the LAPD, the department’s ranks have dropped from nearly 10,000 to 8,800. A recent class at the academy numbered just 23 — less than half the enrollment during the years when McDonnell was last at the LAPD. “We also can’t get away from the fact that we need more good people to be interested in this job and to come on the job,” McDonnell said. … For every statistic, there are lived experiences, people whose lives have been upended, whose sense of safety has been shattered.”_____©2024 Los Angeles Times.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 15, 2024 15:46 UTC