LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Crime in the city dropped for the 10th consecutive year in 2012, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief Charlie Beck announced today.
The pair attributed the 1.4 percent reduction in crime from 2011 to continued police hiring despite the city’s large budget deficit. Villaraigosa said he would keep police hiring as a top priority in the city’s next budget, his last as mayor. Villaraigosa will be termed out of office and replaced by a new mayor July 1.