‘We should not panic...’

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The Los Angeles Police Department’s Assistant Chief Earl C. Paysinger held a press conference June 9 to respond to the recent spike in homicides. The number of homicides that occurred last weekend -- 10 in LAPD jurisdictions alone -- was ‘a spike,’ he said, but that, ‘This is a spike we periodically see in this city.’

Paysinger was right. Homicide Report examined the reported homicides during previous weekends this year and found similar numbers at least twice before. Although the recent total homicides was significant -- 15 in various jurisdictions -- there have been other weekends where the numbers were not much lower.

From March 29 to February 2, there were 11 homicides in LAPD’s jurisdiction, so far the highest reported for a weekend this year. The second highest was last weekend; the third highest was the weekend of February 8-10.

The number of homicides countywide last weekend was the highest for a single weekend this year.

On average about 10 homicides will occur throughout L.A. County on a weekend. LAPD’s area will average three to six homicides on such weekends.

The Report also discovered that Sundays generally have the highest number of reported homicides. Many killings occur late Saturday night and are reported early Sunday.

The Monday after last week’s killings, residents from South-Central and South Los Angeles communities -- where five of the slayings occurred -- responded to HR’s postings of the homicides:

‘You’re shocked, but not too shocked,’ said Tiffany Williams, 25 of South-Central Los Angeles. ‘Nothing’s going to happen, nothing is going to change.’

‘It’s depressing,’ said Roy Walker, 51 of South Los Angeles. ‘I’m glad I didn’t hear about the [homicides],’ he said.

Another South LA resident, who goes by the name of Cheese, said simply, ‘This is LA...’

Is it?

Below is LAPD’s statement and statistics on last weekend’s homicides:

‘The Los Angeles Police Department responds to the number of homicides that occurred over the past weekend. (10 total from Friday night June 6, 2008 through Monday morning at 8:00 a.m.)

On Monday, June 9, 2008 at 2:30 p.m, Los Angeles Police Department’s Assistant Chief Earl C. Paysinger, Office of Operations addressed the number of homicides that occurred over the past weekend. The news conference was held at Parker Center-Main Entrance.

Over the weekend, a number of crimes have occurred throughout the city of Los Angeles resulting in 10 homicides, all from separate incidents. Several of the 10 homicides have been confirmed as being gang-related, but investigations are still ongoing and information provided today is preliminary.

On dealing with crime suppression efforts, Assistant Chief Paysinger stated, ‘as trends migrate and evolve throughout the city, we have an obligation to move resources to address crime … we should not panic’ as this is a spike in crime that we see periodically within the city of Los Angeles. There have been no connections or trends developing that can be inferred as a result of this spike in the number of homicides. The last spike that we experienced similar to this weekend, occurred in January over a four-day period, where there were 11 homicides. It should be noted that homicides are down 32% compared to the same time period in 2002.

Arrests have been made for three of the homicides that occurred in North Hollywood, Foothill and Mission areas. The department is seeking the public’s assistance in any leads or information regarding these homicides and is urged to contact the respective Area Detectives listed on News Releases or 1-977-LAW-FULL (529-3855).

The following is a breakdown of this weekend’s homicides by bureau and weapon type:

WEAPON TYPE:

8 firearm
1 unknown object (victim was beaten)
1 knife

BUREAU

OSB: 3 (77TH , Southeast (2)
OVB: 4 (Mission, NHWD, Foothill (2)
OCB: 2 (Newton (2)
OWB: 1 (Hollywood).’