Violent Crime in L.A. Rose for First Time in 12 Years, LAPD Says

This year's been victorious for the left's forces of lawlessness and disruption. From soft-on-crime legislation to the anarchy in the streets, and to the radical left's all-out war on law enforcement, it's been a rough year for the bulwarks of decency and order.

The left wouldn't have it any other way.

At the Los Angeles Times, "L.A. violent crime rises for the first time in 12 years, LAPD says":

For more than a decade, the Los Angeles Police Department has pointed to year-end statistics showing big drops in crime as proof the agency was making the city safer.

But as 2014 draws to a close and the numbers show violent crime has climbed for the first time in 12 years, Chief Charlie Beck has struck a decidedly different note.

"One thing we've become trapped in doing is looking at crime year-to-year, month-to-month, day-to-day," Beck told reporters earlier this month. "When you do that you don't get a clear, overall picture."

His comments came after months of questions about the accuracy of the LAPD's crime data, which the department has long used to set crime-fighting strategies and assess the success or failure of various operations.

Through Saturday, LAPD figures showed a decline in property crimes, but more than a 12% jump in violent offenses over the same period last year. All four types of crime that account for the city's violence total had increased: Robberies and homicides were up slightly; rapes climbed 12.4%.

By far, the most dramatic rise was in aggravated assaults — serious attacks that typically involve a weapon or serious injury — which rose 24.2% compared with 2013.

The increase in assaults coincided with a Times investigation this summer that found that the LAPD significantly understated the city's true level of crime when it misclassified nearly 1,200 serious violent crimes as low-level offenses during a recent one-year period. The bulk of those errors were made when police recorded aggravated assaults as minor incidents...

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