The Los Angeles Police Department has reported an increase in crimes in which homeless individuals were listed as suspects.
Crime data provided by the LAPD showed a nearly 50 percent increase in homeless crimes in 2018 in Los Angeles. There were 8,906 crime reports alone between Jan.1 and Dec.1 of this year, compared to 5,976 for the same time period in 2017.
Homeless people were listed as suspects in 4.3 percent of all crime reported and were suspects in 12.6 percent of aggravated assault crimes, according to the crime records.
LAPD voiced their concern with the increase as did Mayor Garcetti.
"Every person who lives in Los Angeles or walks our streets should feel safe in this city, and Mayor Garcetti will not tolerate violent crime anywhere or by anyone," said Garcetti spokesman Alex Comisar. "He wants people who commit these horrible, shameful acts to be arrested, held accountable, and prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
Eric Leonard with the NBC4 I- Team will be joining the show at 3:00pm. The team investigated the jump in homeless crime numbers.