Murder rate at 40-year low

For the first time in more than four decades, Los Angeles finished the year with fewer than 300 murders as crime continued to fall for a ninth year, officials announced Tuesday. C.J. Lin in the Daily News,

The 297 murders reported in 2010 was the lowest number of homicides since 1967, when there were 281 killings. And the murder rate was .74 per 10,000 people, the lowest per capita rate since 1964, when the city had a per capita rate of .66 and 30 percent fewer people.

"When you think about that and the population that we had back then, it's nothing short of amazing," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a news conference. "This is not just a year-end statistic. It is perhaps the most powerful statement on the state of our city and our police department."