Editing Los Angeles (section)

==Crime==
{{Main|Crime in Los Angeles}}
{{See also|List of criminal gangs in Los Angeles}}
[[File:May Day Immigration March LA66.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Los Angeles Police Department|LAPD]] on [[May Day]] 2006 in front of the new Caltrans District 7 Headquarters]]
In 1992, the city of Los Angeles recorded 1,092 murders.<ref>{{cite news |title=LA riots: 20 years later, a facelift for the police but scars for South Central |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/26/la-riots-20-years-later |work=The Guardian |date=April 26, 2012 |access-date=August 10, 2019 |archive-date=August 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810130038/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/26/la-riots-20-years-later |url-status=live }}</ref> Los Angeles experienced a significant decline in crime in the 1990s and late 2000s and reached a 50-year low in 2009 with 314 homicides.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://abclocal.go.com/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=7204706|title=Los Angeles crime rates hit 50-year lows|author=Powell, Amy|date=January 6, 2010|access-date=January 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721210109/http://abclocal.go.com/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Flos_angeles&id=7204706|archive-date=July 21, 2015|url-status=dead|publisher=[[KABC-TV]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lapdonline.org/read_the_beat_magazine/pdf_view/43819|title=LAPD year-end crime statistics|publisher=[[Los Angeles Police Department]]|access-date=April 13, 2010|archive-date=July 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130711054236/http://www.lapdonline.org/read_the_beat_magazine/pdf_view/43819|url-status=live}}</ref> This is a rate of 7.85 per 100,000 population—a major decrease from 1980 when a homicide rate of 34.2 per 100,000 was reported.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.disastercenter.com/californ/crime/976.htm|title=Uniform Crime Reports of Los Angelesand Index from 1985 to 2005|access-date=April 20, 2016|archive-date=April 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414083740/http://www.disastercenter.com/californ/crime/976.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/cityprof.pdf|title=LAPD Online Crime Rates|publisher=[[Los Angeles Police Department]]|access-date=April 13, 2010|archive-date=June 15, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615080842/http://lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/cityprof.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> This included 15 officer-involved shootings. One shooting led to the death of a [[LAPD Metropolitan Division#S.W.A.T. ("D" Platoon)|SWAT]] team member, Randal Simmons, the first in LAPD's history.<ref name="swat_killed" /> Los Angeles totaled 251 murders in 2013, a decrease of 16 percent from the previous year. Police speculate the drop resulted from a number of factors, including young people spending more time online.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/01/06/lapd-city-murder-rate-drops-16-percent-in-2013/|title=LAPD City Murder Rate Drops 16 Percent|date=January 6, 2014|publisher=[[KCBS-TV]]|access-date=February 4, 2014|archive-date=January 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127133638/http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/01/06/lapd-city-murder-rate-drops-16-percent-in-2013/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, murders rose to the highest level since 2008 and there were 348.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Homicide Report |url=https://homicide.latimes.com/neighborhood/la-city/officer_involved/false/year/2021 |access-date=January 7, 2022 |archive-date=January 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107063508/https://homicide.latimes.com/neighborhood/la-city/officer_involved/false/year/2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2015, it was revealed that the LAPD had been under-reporting crime for eight years, making the crime rate in the city appear much lower than it really was.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Los Angeles Police Underreported Crime Stats for 8 Years |url=https://time.com/4074896/los-angeles-crime-rates-higher-assaults/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=October 15, 2015 |access-date=August 10, 2019 |archive-date=March 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190310193705/http://time.com/4074896/los-angeles-crime-rates-higher-assaults/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=LAPD captain accuses department of twisting crime statistics to make city seem safer |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lapd-crime-stats-claim-20171103-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 6, 2017 |access-date=August 10, 2019 |archive-date=August 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810130039/https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lapd-crime-stats-claim-20171103-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Los Angeles crime family|Dragna crime family]] and [[Mickey Cohen]] dominated organized crime in the city during the [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition era]]<ref name="mafiaLA">{{cite book |last=DeVico |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyIXw1oq56YC&pg=PA153 |title=The Mafia Made Easy: The Anatomy and Culture of La Cosa Nostra |publisher=Tate Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-60247-254-9 |page=154 |access-date=September 6, 2012 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106164905/https://books.google.com/books?id=vyIXw1oq56YC&pg=PA153 |url-status=live }}</ref> and reached its peak during the 1940s and 1950s with the "Battle of Sunset Strip" as part of the [[American Mafia]], but has gradually declined since then with the rise of various black and [[Hispanic]] gangs in the late 1960s and early 1970s.<ref name="mafiaLA" />

According to the [[Los Angeles Police Department]], the city is home to 45,000 gang members, organized into 450 gangs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lapdonline.org/get_informed/content_basic_view/1396|title=Gangs|publisher=[[Los Angeles Police Department]]|access-date=April 13, 2010|archive-date=July 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130711065918/http://www.lapdonline.org/get_informed/content_basic_view/1396|url-status=live}}</ref> Among them are the [[Crips]] and [[Bloods]], which are both African American street gangs that originated in the [[South Los Angeles]] region. Latino street gangs such as the [[Sureños]], a Mexican American street gang, and [[Mara Salvatrucha]], which has mainly members of [[Salvadoran American|Salvadoran]] descent, as well as other [[Central American]] descents, all originated in Los Angeles. This has led to the city being referred to as the "Gang Capital of America".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2007/02/09/idUSN08492271|title=Police target 11 worst Los Angeles street gangs|author=Serjeant, Jill|date=February 8, 2007|newspaper=[[Reuters]]|access-date=January 14, 2015|archive-date=January 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123224131/http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/02/09/idUSN08492271|url-status=live}}</ref>