Crime rate continues decline

In spite of Los Angeles having record high unemployment, the city leads the nation's big cities in the drop of homicides, LAPD Chief William Bratton announced today.Tony Castron and Jason Kandel in the Daily News.

L.A. had a nearly 31 percent drop in homicides, Bratton said. That exceeded New York's nearly 20 percent drop; Chicago's nearly 16 percent drop; Philadelphia's nearly 11 percent drop; and far exceeded Las Vegas jump of nearly 50 percent.

Violent crime in the San Fernando Valley dropped over 7 percent, police said. There were more than a thousand fewer crimes in the first four months this year compared to the same period last year, said LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore, the Valley's top cop.