Details about this story

• Source: Los Angeles Times
• Date: August 19, 2007
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Jill Leovy
• Topics: Crime , Death
• Data Types: Local Data
• Description/Excerpt: Homicides are down sharply in Los Angeles County this year, possibly by as much as 14% countywide. But the stubborn problem of deadly violence grinds on in poor neighborhoods of the county at a rate far above the U.S. average. And although fewer family members are suffering this year, they are not suffering less. An online project of The Times called the Homicide Report has tracked Los Angeles County homicides, as they have happened, since the beginning of the year. The project has yielded a vivid statistical outline of the county's current homicide problem -- at least 520 killings by early August. It also has chronicled some of the damage that rippled through families and communities rent by deaths that happened before their time. Homicide is not fair, hitting hardest among Latinos and especially among blacks. Latinos are killed at more than three times the rate of whites, while blacks succumb to homicide at three times the rate of Latinos, the Times analysis shows.
• Database or Graphic: Go to site (com/homicidemap/)