Mayoral hopeful Rick Caruso stated that LA was seeing some of its worst-ever crime levels. It is not an accurate statement, but the sentiment that Caruso is attempting to convey is the key to his mayoral campaign.
Crime in LA is not close to its peak level of the 1990’s but has increased over the past two years. Alongside a series of well-documented tragedies, that upswing has left several natives on edge.
In a discussion where safety in LA and its perceptions took up considerable airtime, the mayoral hopefuls were asked whether they also felt safe here. Most of them stated that they did, but Caruso did not respond to the question. Caruso’s remarks about safety in LA came later during the discussion.
In the following days, LA Times reporters went to many neighborhoods across Los Angeles, including the locations of the five participants in the debate, to ask natives about safety.
After interviewing not only dozens of San Pedro residents but also those in parts of the Valley and South Los Angeles, there was a more nuanced picture that contradicts Caruso’s rhetoric.
In the discussion, Caruso stated that everyone in LA is afraid of walking out of their doors, a feeling that almost all the LA Times interviewees do not echo.
Both the rise in crime levels and people’s fears about crime are real, but panic regarding safety is not pervasive in the neighborhoods of the mayoral hopefuls. Several residents in those neighborhoods knew little regarding or were not aware of the mayoral election this June.
Caruso is a rich real estate property developer popular for his carefully curated pieces of property like the Americana at Brand and the Grove. Public safety is at the heart of Caruso’s mayoral campaign. Besides demanding that Los Angeles add a further 1,500 cops, Caruso wishes that prosecutors will bring a greater number of cases against those who commit misdemeanors.
In richer neighborhoods like Beverly Grove and Brentwood, several residents who feel safe about hitting the streets stated that they consider other priorities like living costs and controlling gas rates. In other areas of Los Angeles where candidates do not reside, more residents stated that they do not feel safe walking outdoors.
Resident Priscilla Enriquez of Pacoima stated that being at the local park she visits with her toddler does not cause her to feel unsafe. Resident Linda Frizzell of Panorama City, suggested that safety is all about geography. In other words, Frizzell stated that people feel safe depending on where they reside.
The frequent police helicopter rounds and break-ins nearby have caused Panorama City residents to feel scarier at night than before. For the uninitiated, cosmetologist Frizzell lives in Panorama City. If she had not owned her townhouse, and housing was not so costly, she would like to relocate to a quieter location, such as Northridge.
Resident Justin Williams of Studio City stated that he does not personally feel unsafe here and feels that many of the headlines related to crime are perhaps overblown. However, he added that he thinks that perception matters more than reality.
As with other major US cities, violent crime has been increasing in LA over the past few years. Los Angeles had 397 deadly shootings, more than the shooting count in 2022 and other years of the past decade. Shootings and homicides, though, have dropped in the same time last year, as per data from March.
Until mid-March 2022, there has been a 5% increase in property crime levels as compared to the same time last year. Automobile theft levels are up by almost 44% and robberies by around 18% as compared to the same time last year.
Still, the above numbers pale in comparison to 1993 numbers, for instance. In 1993, there were almost 1,100 homicide cases in the limits of Los Angeles.
A week following the discussion, Caruso stated that it is ridiculous to compare the present levels of crime to those of the 1990’s to determine safety. As for Caruso, safety is an extremely personal matter.
According to Caruso, it is based on the way in which someone takes in and understands information, which happens through a group of sources. Caruso stated that statistics and news reports about things such as the homelessness situation may induce some fear, according to where you reside. As for Caruso, you could tell the public that LA is safer as compared to 1990, but it would not cause them to feel better about their children walking to school.
Caruso also stated that he heard that people are concerned regarding hate crimes in Koreatown, which have not only been increasing but have also been well documented.
As for Ange-Marie Hancock Alfaro of the University of Southern California, appeals based on fear have been utilized for considerable success in different local and national elections. Hancock Alfaro added that she reckoned that public safety might remain part of the major matters in the electoral race. She claimed that some high-profile cases of crime are alarming to the public, whether or not their count has considerably increased.
As for Hancock Alfaro, another factor that plays a part in perceptions about public safety is what happened after George Floyd’s death. After it, political attitudes toward the criminal justice system and law enforcement have shifted in LA and elsewhere in the country. Around two years after Floyd’s death, Hancock Alfaro finds that public views in LA and elsewhere are swinging back slightly to the middle.
On a bright day the other week, San Pedro resident Freddy Roldan and his daughter Selena played in LA’s Point Fermin Park.
Roldan’s former locations, including one around 30 kilometers south of DTLA, had a few safety concerns, but those were nothing in comparison to his hometown. However, Roldan did not feel safe about visiting the park around his erstwhile home in San Pedro with his two-year-old child. He relocated to a different San Pedro area in which he could easily walk to the public park with his daughter.