Three years, 2,603 killings

with these facts that most homicide victimns are latino why are we not doing more to deport those in the country illegally and why are we giving the children of illegal immigrants citizenship and welfare benefits we must stand up to this violent invasion destroying what is supposed to be america not a third world unsafe place like mexico

I don't care what ethnicity the victims and perpetrators are. What strikes me as particularly troublesome is that such a high percentage of these victims died due to "domestic violence". This, not ethnicity or economic standing, is a damning indictment of our failure as a society to figure out how to be decent to one another.

i have always appreciated the HR, so i was pleased to see the interactive map. as i began to familiarize myself with it's functionality, i "clicked" on a person's age...he was "17". i was horrified when the page loaded and i saw the scores of "17" year old children that have been murdered in our city alone! as i type my heart is extremely heavy! smh...i don't know who i'm more disgusted with! the "animals" that took the lives of these kids or the so called "citizens" who stand by and allow it. sure if it were "other" children being murdered, the response to such a travesty would be different, but it's not! a small group of individuals taking responsibility for where they live, makes a large impact on the overall quality of life...if even for only four blocks.

Ken6000, only 6% of the homicides were of domestic violence. That in itself is not anywhere near a statistical "high".

Tragic all those young black and Hispanic men are being murdered in numbers disproportionate to their share of the population.

What percentage of the perps are young black and Hispanic men, pray tell?

One thing I noticed is that "gunshot" homicides predominate in gang war neighborhoods, such as Compton. In contrast, the tonier the neighborhood, the lower the proportion of gunshots and the higher the proportions of "stabbing" and "blunt force" homicides. At the highest levels of society, "other" is the homicide method a la mode. For example, please check out the homicide log for the Beverly Crest neighborhood (the part of Los Angeles in the Hollywood Hills above Beverly Hills).

Dear "concerned american,"

To assume the majority of those involved in these homicides are "illegal" because they are latino is appalling. In case you forgot, 47% of Angelenos are Latinos. If your logic is correct and just, this would mean that almost half of us would be dead? Our honorable contributions to this city and nation are countless. And continuing with your brilliant argument, if we were to deport not only illegals but children of illegals, then we might as well deport the entire country (after all, only a few of us have native american blood).

You were correct about one thing, however, we are living in a third world country. If we can't provide adequate and equal education to all of our children, then we ARE NOT the developed nation we boast to be. Clearly our education system is failing when it's yielding ignorant people like yourself.

The disparities between the neighborhoods are obvious, the inequalities, blatant. But instead of fearing our neighbors and responding with negligence, lets collaborate and work towards closing the gaps and mending the cracks particularly in education.

And on that note, get a clue and grow a heart Mr. "concerned american."

First, I'd like to thank the LA Times and the individuals involved for this outstanding database.

Second, I'd like to point out that you could add a very useful feature to your site by just adding two more columns to your "Neighborhoods" ranking page which currently only includes the total number of homicides since the beginning of 2007.

If you included the Population of each neighborhood, which you have already posted on almost every neighborhood's page, you could then automatically calculate a "Homicides/100,000" column.

For example, since 1/1/2007, Burbank has had 5 homicides with a population of 100,316, for a rate of just under 5 per 100,000 people.

In contrast, Compton has had 116 homicides and its 2000 Census population was 113,621, so Compton's Homicides/100,000 rate would be about 102.

Now, every potential homebuyer knows that Burbank has a lower homicide rate than Compton, but, first, it's worth putting the difference into simple numbers: 5 versus 102.

Second, this rate would be of interest to everybody in Southern California who is interested in real estate -- which is everybody in Southern California.

For example, in your data, Santa Monica's homicide rate is 12, while Canoga Park's rate is only 9. Which is very interesting when you consider how much cheaper a house in Canoga Park is per square foot than one in Santa Monica.

Third, beyond the real estate hook, there's a public service aspect to posting Homicide rates per 100,000. Should public officials in wealthy Santa Monica be satisfied with a homicide rate more than twice that in Burbank?

Of course, you should put in a stern warning against readers putting too much faith in small sample sizes. But, as the years go by, your sample sizes will get bigger and more reliable.

Most of the latinos in that area are the product of illegal, not legal, immigration. The arguments for deported illegals gets stronger every day.

"If your logic is correct and just, this would mean that almost half of us would be dead? "

No.

"Our honorable contributions to this city and nation are countless."

?

"You were correct about one thing, however, we are living in a third world country. "

Wherever there is a massive Mexican/Central American population, there you will find the third world.

Reader, MJ- de LMU has a very valid point. If you want to save AMERICA, than leave and let the Native Americans have it back. It's so simple.

Another thing, don't assume that illegals don't contribute. WE work for cities and major corporations, doing both blue and white collar jobs. Believe me, as a child of an illegal immigrant, a certified Professional Engineer, working for So Cal Gas, you deport us and the entire state will come to a grinding halt.

are there any links or a way to open the maps larger in a new browser window?

"Believe me, as a child of an illegal immigrant, a certified Professional Engineer, working for So Cal Gas, you deport us and the entire state will come to a grinding halt."

Yeah, California was hell on earth before massive Mexican immigration.

I think the people involved in creating this database should be applauded.

Regardless of color, race or neighborhood, these victims should be honored.

My heart aches for the younger victims, 475 under the age of 18. 89 under 10. Incredibly sad.

Take away the ability for everone to have a gun, watch the death count drop!

It is pretty amazing how quickly racist and anti-immigrant sentiment came up. First of all, FORGET ABOUT MASSIVE DEPORTATION! It is not a feasibly option, it will NEVER happen. Your racist dream of having all people of different skin color gone from this country will not happen.

Secondly, without immigration (legal & illegal) there is no way our economy could have expanded as quickly as it did over the past 30-40 years.

Thirdly, most of the young people dying are due to gang violence. Yes in this part of the country it involves mostly black and latino kids that are poor. And these Gangs are fueled and funded by the illegal drug trade.

Once the ignorant and blatantly racist remarks have passed, maybe we can have an intelligent discussion on this topic.

By the way, I would estimate from reading through the lists that 15-20% of the "white" victims had Spanish surnames. Perhaps most were seen as racially white by the coroner when dead, but would typically be considered ethnically Latino by the public when alive.

This would reduce the percentage of total homicide victims who were ethnically white from a little over 10% down to about 8%.

Here's another methodological suggestion for the owners of this useful database:

To aid social science researchers, you should offer as a time period 2007 through 2009. That would allow a standardized time period for scholarly works.

You currently offer a time periods
2007
2008
2009
All

The problem with "All" for peer-reviewed papers and the like is that the numbers that come up with "All" keep increasing as more days are added. Offering 2007-2009 would be a fixed length of time that would be convenient for serious researchers.

Anyone who doesn't acknowledge that illegal immigration is contributing to the large clusters of homicides in certain sections of the county is ignoring the elephant in the room.

The massive influx of poorly educated immigrants that have very high birth rates has created 3rd world slums with the attendant problems of overcrowding, wage deflation, declining qualities of living, and a failed educational opportunities.

And until this is acknowledged not as "the" cause, but as a "contributor to" crime, then nothing is going to be done.

Here's another technical suggestion to make the data even more usable.

On your Neighborhoods page

http://projects.latimes.com/homicide/neighborhoods/

put in a short descriptor of which region of Los Angeles County each neighborhood is in (SFV, South Central, High Desert, whatever). This would be helpful for people from other parts of LA County or out-of-towners who aren't familiar with where Avocado Heights or whereer is

"It is pretty amazing how quickly racist and anti-immigrant sentiment came up. First of all, FORGET ABOUT MASSIVE DEPORTATION! "

It was a Hispanic who brought up mass deportation in this thread.

"Secondly, without immigration (legal & illegal) there is no way our economy could have expanded as quickly as it did over the past 30-40 years."

Two problems with this. First, our economy has not expanded quickly over the past 30-4o years. It has stagnated. And people at the lower end of the economic scale, forced to compete with a limitless supply of cheap immigrant labor, have fared worst. Second, our economy did expand very rapidly before the 1970s, despite almost non-existent immigration, legal or illegal.

"Yes in this part of the country it involves mostly black and latino kids that are poor."

In what part of the country does murder not disproportionately involve black and Hispanic kids that are poor?

Shouldn't a graduate student have some grasp of facts? Shouldn't a graduate student be able to reason?

Another technical suggestion:

A lot of Armenians are listed as Other ethnicity and a lot of Armenians are listed as White ethnicity. I think you should decide which it should be and make it consistent.

When George Deukmejian beat Tom Bradley for governor in 1982 and 1986, I can't recall anybody ever saying Deukmejian wasn't white, so I think Armenians should be listed under White.

On the other hand, it might be interesting to make a separate race/ethnicity category for Armenians.

The killings are never going to stop! It's a vicious cycle. Too many stupidass fools trying to show how hard they are. That's all it is. And the US government is too soft on the criminals. If the "gangbangers" so much as open their mouths in Africa or Latin America they would have their heads chopped off.

I'd love to see the same work done on the Homicide Map done with traffic crashes and fatalities. The sheer number of injuries and deaths at the hands of motorists makes the number of homicides look puny in comparison.

White people always trying to make it seen like they are the purest souls in the entire earth. In Europe where alot of your ancestor live there is alot violence too, done by who else other than white people.So every part of the world have good and bad people. Some really educated people with high degree's have done some horrific staff so education might not be a reason for humans,not to do stupid staff. When all you ex-european now north american citizens claim this as your country you should be glad, you got the choise to move to a different state where you feel more comfortable with your own people. Move to a state where it has all the kkk gangster from where else??Europe.We still know you are europeans due to ur last name.the German, Italian, English, French ,eastern europeans have distintive last names.which all of you white people happent to have as well. U brought ur last names from Europe.This state is a latino one. Read the names of the streets and u will find out that the most of the names are in Spanish, not English or in French. You can said the same for texas,colorado, new mexico,arizona etc. White needs to stay at utah, arkansas or just go back to your true origins(Europe).Please add the north American when ever you want to said that you are from the U S A. All people living in the american continent are Americans. some are from south america, central america. stop been lazy my white people. I'm sending this message to all white people, who are really ignorant and just got mad about my comment. The rest of you that are not mad, mean you understand my point.

A lot of effort is put forth here, parsing data and other observations, to arrive at characteristics and tendencies of victims and perps. Some contributors hope, albeit feebly, to find a solution, others affix (or deflect) blame.

Please consider this demographic nugget mined from the information: all of the homicides were committed by criminals. If the society as a whole, not just law enforcement, addresses the matter of crime it could lead to a solution to the homicide problem.
Let those disposed to searching for justice in the canyons of Bel Air, long fled earstwhile employers, or immigration policies continue to do so. Meanwhile perhaps enough of us could explore the matter as one pertaining to the disobedience of laws and somewhere in that not-so-abstract concept find a way to solve, or at least mitigate the problem. Who's with me?!

So I've just read through all of the thoughts posted about this sad, sad situation. People are blaming it on immigration, the economy, even politics. This is probably one of the worst situations we could ever have. From my view point the people on this list have done nothing to deserve to die.

This list has a wide range of ages, genders, and ethnicity. But on this list they all have one thing in common, they are gone. That means parents, siblings, spouses, friends, family, and anyone else they would have come in contact with will never see their smiling face or hear them laugh. This is a sad case in our society. The one that is haunting me the most is the 17 year old girl who was running errands for her mom, what is the world going to be like without her. Maybe she was the one to cure cancer or to bring us together.

Now, looking at the stats, a lot of these we gun related, others very violent. Nobody deserves to die in this way. I almost feel that giving up my guns could be a necessary action. Now don't get me wrong I enjoy shooting, but if getting the guns off of the street means we could have saved the innocent lives, it might be worth it.

What ever the case, why have we let this happen. Almost three thousand people are dead, why did we, our state, county, city, and neighborhood let this happen?

FIX IT!

Any gangbangers out there reading this? I'd like to hear from one "them". Why do you kill people? what does killing do to you? when you know you've taken someone's life how do you manage to feel ok about yourself? what if the penalty for killing someone was death... instantly put to death upon conviction? what if witnesses sudden;y came forward because they knew you'd be caught and hung? would you still take the risk to kill someone? does knowing that you are a killer set you free from a hopeless and tragic existence? can your gang establish you in truth and honor? do you gangsters know what honor is? and finally, what do gangbangers value most of all?

it's important to realize that there are some out there (black, white, hispanic, etc) that have no regard for human life. After reading a simple book about and by a LA crip I came to realize one simple truth. To stop the gangs you must stop the failing of the family. education will not stop it, deporting will simply move the problem and prison simply hardens already hard people.

I, for one, have armed myself against this type of criminal. The only way to win at this point is to beat them at their own game... justice be damned!

Mr. Hall Monitor,

Get off your soapbox and stop being confrontational. This is a forum for ideas not personal attacks.

I am referencing to the economy as a whole/aggregate. There is no denying that the U.S. Economy did not grow at all in the time period I have stated. If you deny that you can not do simple arithmetic.

<Shouldn't a graduate student be able to reason?

Yes I do thats why I am graduating with multiple graduate degrees

I don't mean to be rude, but many of you seem to be muckrakers. Its good an bad. Good for the fact that you are forcing viewers to think about what they're read, but bad because most of your arguments are single minded.

Deportation of every illegal immigrant is very unlikely to happened because of what costs that would take. I don't agree with illegal immigration, because my parents went through the entire process and I know many who have. However, if you didn't have the cheep labor that immigration provides, you'd be complaining about the standard of living rising.

The unfortunate thing is that the California school system is dropping. The amount that the state pays for each individual student is somewhere around being the 3rd lowest in the country. Inefficient school and living can cause depression and hopelessness which has a tendency to raise the crime rates and death rates. An even sadder thing is the places that get the bigger hits are places of poverty, that are largely hispanics and blacks.

Lastly, I don't understand why most people take racial or personal jabs. Isn't the point of this to bring different ideas to the table, some controversial, but not just jab at different people(s).

White people always trying to make it seen like they are the purest souls in the entire earth. In Europe where alot of your ancestor live there is alot violence too, done by who else other than white people.So every part of the world have good and bad people. Some really educated people with high degree's have done some horrific staff so education might not be a reason for humans,not to do stupid staff. When all you ex-european now north american citizens claim this as your country you should be glad, you got the choise to move to a different state where you feel more comfortable with your own people. Move to a state where it has all the kkk gangster from where else??Europe.We still know you are europeans due to ur last name.the German, Italian, English, French ,eastern europeans have distintive last names.which all of you white people happent to have as well. U brought ur last names from Europe.This state is a latino one. Read the names of the streets and u will find out that the most of the names are in Spanish, not English or in French. You can said the same for texas,colorado, new mexico,arizona etc. White needs to stay at utah, arkansas or just go back to your true origins(Europe).Please add the north American when ever you want to said that you are from the U S A. All people living in the american continent are Americans. Some are from south america, Central America. stop been lazy my white people. I'm sending this message to all white people, who are really IIIIgnorant and just got mad about my comment. The rest of you that are not mad, means you understand my point.So Stop blaming Illegal immigrants , I'm sure the native Americans blame ur Illegal immigrant Ancestors (pilgrims)for coming here and killing alot of their people. So as you can see you guys got killers on your families

As for the the individual titled "To all u White KKK people", I must say I agree with you. You have a great point as for the "High School Student" you really need to look at the big picture, the violence is not about race, it is about how these people are born and raised. Grow up in broken homes (no father or mother) or have had a tragic event happen in there life. I am white married to a hispanic. It is sad that all pathetic jobs are given to Hispanics because they can get away with getting paying less and we all know nobody else will do it. It is really sad for Hispanics that come here and try to have a normal life, they get treated like crap. I have seen this as a little girl and now my daughter being Hispanic and White she is going to have to deal with a hard life. I am so sick of people hating the Hispanics. You hate them so much that you tour there country, that makes no sense. I have a racist sister, every chance she gets she wants to take a jab at any other race besides the whites, and she is on welfare....it makes no sense does it.

I don't know what you clowns are blabbing about but my neighborhood is at war with a lot of different gangs and the murder rate is at an all time high. The comment regarding banning guns is silly because its the people behind guns not the other way around. I also want to comment on immigration and the lack of respect from Americans. As a son of immigrants myself i find it disturbing that retarded and lazy Americans are complaining about "losing low wage job". Please don't make me laugh oh better yet GO FIND A JOB YOU BUM and stop winning. You claim to dislike Mexicans but you will gladly munch down a TACO. Why are African Americans complaining for??? why don't they buy houses, create their own jobs( stores ect) and unify??? why be so jealous of the Hispanic unity?? you should be ashamed of your self hatred after all the killing are black on black hahaha 1x7vermontsidehard is out

I enjoy reading the LA Times online, from the comfort of my house in a smallish village in Kent, UK, some 28 miles south-east of London.
As an ex police officer (32 years in the 'Met') I was constantly dismayed at the rise in violent crime, not only in London but also throughout Britain. The Home Office has just released the UK crime figures confirming that I live in a virtual war-zone, or so I thought until I read the article.
Here (UK), we see the use of firearms, knives and glasses or bottles as a choice of weapon used to kill (we seem to like a bit of variety) but fortunately last years’ statistics show a fall in total UK murders, with 648 being recorded nationally (I accept the UK is probably only about the size of a large US shopping mall).
We do have a rise in the number of attempted murders involving a knife (up from 245 to 271 offences in 2008/9). Knife crime in London has been a problem, particularly with younger age groups as well as black on black gun crime. However, the police service here has developed specific strategies to combat this offence, and after a number of years of hard work with the community, there are signs that the situation is improving.
I hope you can develop strategies to fight this menace. It will not get better on its own, it will need everyone fighting together, and that means trying not to bicker amongst yourselves; it drains energy and resources from the main problem: stopping the killings. Remember, murder can affect any group. It is your collective problem, and if you do not work together, it is your entire fault. I hope I do not make myself unpopular.

Why don't the black man unite and create his own...? Be careful what you ask for!

"black man" .... would expand on your statement? I have no clue what you said or meant to say.

I'm getting tired of hearing Americans complaining about illegal immigration and blaming our south of the border neighbors for coming here in search of a better life.

You can't blame them for looking out for their own interest, it's human nature. You can however call out American's and our hypocrisy. We're the ones doing the hiring. From local restaurants to the contractors that pick up guys standing in front of Home Depot, to the U.S. Military and the University of California, we're the ones that beckon them to come here by hiring them.

Stop being a a bunch of whiney babies and look to the root of the problem. We want cheap labor so things don't cost so much. We don't want to do dirty work but someone has to do it. We need them as much as they need us, but blind racism keeps us from admitting it. Our city and state continues to hemorrhage money on unnecessary expenses such as useless DWP secretaries that make six figures instead of wisely spending it on an infrastructure to support our growing population, contributing to socioeconomic disparities that in turn leads to criminal activity.

This is our doing, even if it was through passive negligence and complacence, if not direct exploitation of less fortunate people for personal gain.

@Steve Sailer's got a great idea.

This is a response to "We can stop!" who wrote: (if getting the guns off of the street means we could have saved the innocent lives, it might be worth it).

First, get it through your head: If YOU who own guns legally, give up your guns, or were made by the State or the Federal Gov't to give up your guns, you might as well become a slave...to the bad guys, because the bad guys will be the ONLY ones (besides cops) with guns. Bad guys don't play by the rules. Bad guys will then rape, rob, and kill anyone they want, because they know that no one (legal-wise) has a gun in their home or the business.

I'm a salesperson who goes on appts to L.A., and I'll tell you right now: My piece is like an American Express Card - I don't leave home without it. I don't go to L.A. without it. And on 2 occasions in the last 10 years, I would have used it on gangbangers who had thought me to be an easy mark. Rest assured, as a retired U.S. Army Paratrooper, I would have walked safely away, they would have been dead, and you would have read about them on this report...because I refuse to become a statistic.

There is only one way to stop the gangbangers getting stronger,that is clearly deporting the illegals that come here to control the weak,and lock up the legal gangbangers with longer sentences,how foolish they are thinking they are men,but really how much of a coward they are because they don't want to fight hand to hand,instead they don't want there home boys to see them get there butts kicked so they shot like cowards they are.weak minded,low class,cowards.

I see gun control is working, keep up the good work.