Homicides in Los Angeles were up 27.5 percent during the first nine weeks of the year, compared with the same period last year, according to the Los Angeles Police Department‘s latest crime statistics.
There were 51 homicides as of Saturday, exceeding the 40 recorded as of the same date in 2015.
Violent crime overall is up 12.7 percent, with double-digit rises for robbery and aggravated assault crimes.
Property crime is down 2 percent this year, but motor vehicle theft and burglary thefts from vehicles are on the rise.
The violent crime increase follows the trend from last year, when both violent and property crimes went up for the first time following a 12-year trend of overall declines.
There were 283 homicides in 2015, an 8.8 percent increase from the 260 in 2014.