The COMPSTAT unit of the LAPD tabulates Part I offenses (violent and property crimes) committed in the city. Los Angeles has been experiencing significant decline in Part I offenses since the mid-1990s, and hit a record low in 2005, with 43,231 acts of violence, of which 487 were homicides. Criminality peaked in 1992 with 72,667 recorded acts of violence, of which 1,096 were homicides; and 245,129 recorded property crimes. The distribution of homicides in the city is uneven with nearly half of such crimes occurring in the four stations of the South Bureau of the LAPD encompassing South Los Angeles and the Harbor area. A further quarter occur in the areas covered by the Central Bureau which covers Downtown and its environs. Property crimes were three times more common than violent crimes; 110,231 were recorded in 2005. The LAPD makes live crime statistics available on the LAPD crimestats and epolice web site

Los Angeles has a total crime index lower than that of San Francisco, Chicago, and Atlanta as of 2006. Among the largest cities in the United States, only New York City and San Diego have lower overall crime rates. [5]

Many movies and songs about Los Angeles depict the notion that the city is home to a large number of gangsters and professional criminals. According to a May 2001 Drug Threat Assessment by the National Drug Intelligence Center,^[9] Los Angeles County is home to 152,000 gang members organized into 1,350 gangs. Among the most infamous are the Crips, Bloods, 18th Street, and MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha). Car chases happen more often than in most other major cities, with the city's complex freeway system allowing for lengthier pursuits. Other automobile-oriented crimes include: car-to-car shootings, drive-by shootings, hit-and-run accidents, and carjackings.