Los Angeles reached 300 homicides in 2020, a number not seen in a decade.
The city passed the grim milestone early Sunday morning, after four killings over the weekend. The victims included a 17-year-old cyclist, a 50-year-old homeless man, a 20-year-old man, and a 41-year-old woman, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The city has experienced an explosion in violence, with a 25% rise in homicides over 2019, while shootings have risen by 32%. Rapes and robberies are both down over last year’s statistics, while aggravated assaults have risen.
Angelenos approved the Reimagine LA County measure on Nov. 3, which prohibits 10%, or between $360 million and $900 million per year, of the city’s unrestricted general funds from being spent on policing or prisons.
“Measure J invests in jobs, rather than jails; in people, rather than punishment; and in mental health rather than incarceration,” Eunisses Hernandez, co-chair of Reimagine LA County, told the Patch.
In October, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore predicted the city would reach 300 homicides by the end of the year. Moore blamed the economic and social turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic for the rise in violence.
“There are a lack of jobs. There is a lack of hope, in some instances, and a lot of time on people’s hands,” Moore said. “Unfortunately people are resorting to using weapons as they get into these disputes, or they try to retaliate, or seek vengeance because of a perceived earlier slight or insult.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva warned the measure would result in law enforcement layoffs, and the streets of Los Angeles would look “like a scene from Mad Max” if the measure was to pass.
In July, the Los Angeles City Council approved a $150 million budget cut for the Los Angeles Police Department’s $1.86 billion budget. The cuts began on July 1 and will reduce the force by around 200 officers by next year. The city’s school district cut its police budget by a third, and 65 officers will be laid off in response to the budget cuts.
Cities around the country have voted to defund the police in the wake of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police. New York City cut its police budget by $1 billion, while the Minneapolis City Council voted to defund the Minneapolis Police Department. The Seattle City Council eliminated the SWAT UNIT and Navigation Team, cutting the department’s $400 million budget by $3 million.
