L.A. crime down

As it tried to explain a spate of killings over the weekend, the LAPD received some good news Monday - violent crime in the city fell almost 9percent last year, mirroring a national trend, according to figures released by the FBI. Aron Miller in the Daily News.

During 2007, there were 27,801 violent crimes - homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults - in L.A., compared with 30,526 the previous year, the preliminary FBI statistics show.

Homicides in the city dropped 19 percent - from 480 to 390, L.A.'s lowest number since 1970 - while robberies were down 6percent and aggravated assaults fell 11.7percent.

"We hope it continues," said Jeff Godown, who head the Los Angeles Police Department's Compstat Unit, which tracks crime statistics. "We are working on homicide numbers of historic proportions, but you