LA Homicides Fall to 1960s Levels, but Black Victims Remain 35% of Total

Los Angeles recorded 162 homicides through mid-September, a pace that would place the city near levels last seen in the 1960s. The same period last year saw 192 killings. The decline follows the crime surge that arrived during the pandemic.

The drop has not changed who is getting killed. Black residents were 57 of the 162 victims, which is 35% of the total. Black residents make up 8% of the city's population. The share was about the same 20 years ago. The 57 Black victims recorded this year compare with 75 at the same point in 2025.

Homicides among Latino residents fell to 72 from 82. White victims declined to 22 from 28. Victims listed as Asian, Middle Eastern or other declined to 6 from 7.

The LAPD divisions of Southeast, 77th Street and Newton again led the city in homicides. In the 77th patrol area around Florence Boulevard in South L.A., 12 of the 20 people killed through mid-September were Black. About a third of that area's residents are Black. A Times analysis produced those figures.

Most experts do not expect a single cause for the decline to become clear for years. Disparities in access to health care, jobs and housing are among the factors researchers point to when explaining crime rates in communities of color.

The numbers have entered the mayoral campaign. Mayor Karen Bass has put the crime drop at the center of her messaging more than challenger Councilmember Nithya Raman. Raman has proposed expanding the mayor's community safety office to oversee unarmed crisis response programs along with sanitation, fire and transportation. She also proposed weekly reviews of the LAPD, the fire department and other agencies. Raman has spoken about replacing LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell without naming a replacement or a timeline. Bass has said funding for alternative response programs tripled during her tenure. Both candidates back hiring more gang intervention workers.

Speaking outside the Van Nuys police station on Monday about the crime drop, Bass addressed the racial pattern. "I'm glad it's down, but I shudder at what it would be if we had not invested the resources," she told reporters. She pointed to the Gang Reduction and Youth Development initiative as an example of prevention work.

Reginald Foreman, 53, known as "Big Ant" and "BA," was among the Black men killed this year. He grew up in South L.A. near Century Boulevard and Western Avenue, joined the Rollin' 100 Crips as a teenager, and later went to truck driving school. His sister Aimee Johnson said he changed after the first of his five children was born. He went into gang intervention work.

On Aug. 6, Foreman was working with 2nd Call pulling weeds at a vacant lot off Crenshaw Avenue and 60th Street as part of the Destination Crenshaw project. Witnesses said a youth in a medical face mask walked up and started shooting. Foreman and a colleague ran around the corner onto Crenshaw. The shooter caught up to Foreman midway down the block. Some witnesses said the gunman stood over him and fired into his chest at close range.

Skipp Townsend, who founded 2nd Call and hired Foreman in June, said he had spoken with him on the phone shortly before the shooting. Townsend pulled up as police laid a sheet over Foreman's body. "It was heartbreaking," he said. Police told the family last month they expected a break soon, and no arrests have been announced. Townsend said this was the first time in 20 years that one of his employees had been killed.