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L.A. Homicide Rate Drops To Near-Record Low

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Dec 23, 2007 11:34 am US/Pacific

L.A. Homicide Rate Drops To Near-Record Low

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― With this year nearing its end, Los Angeles is on track to record its lowest homicide rate since 1970, when 394 people were killed.

As of Dec. 15, 379 people had been killed in the city this year.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department also has seen a decline, registering a 25 percent drop in homicides this year over last.

Police attribute the decline to a variety of factors, including more focused policing -- and chance.

One of the sharpest declines has been in gang-related killings.

In the San Fernando Valley as of Dec. 15, there had been about 25 gang-related killings. That's nearly cut in half from 2006, when there were 46.

In February, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton announced a gang crackdown, sending more officers into gang-infested areas and are now working with interventionists across the city.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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