The epidemic of gang-related homicides in Los Angeles County from 1979 through 1994

Objective. —To determine trends in gang homicides and the population at greatest risk for homicide by reviewing all gang-related homicides in Los Angeles County, California, from January 1979 to December 1994. Design. —Homicide files of the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department from 1979 to 1994 involving violent street gang activity were reviewed. Gang files were reviewed for demographic data, weapons used, homicides by drive-by shootings, and times and geographic areas of occurrence. Setting. —Los Angeles County from January 1, 1979, to December 31, 1994. Main Outcome Measures. —Age, race, and sex of gang-related homicide victims; frequency of weapon use; and the change in gang-related homicide rates during the study period. Results. —A total of 7288 gang-related homicides occurred in Los Angeles County from 1979 through 1994; 5541 of these homicides occurred in Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department jurisdictions. During the study period, the proportion of all homicides that were gang related increased from 18.1% to 43.0% ( P Conclusions. —Gang-related homicides in Los Angeles County have reached epidemic proportions and are a major public health problem. To prevent gang violence, the root causes of violent street gang formation must be alleviated, the cycle of violent street gang involvement must be broken, and access to firearms must be limited. ( JAMA . 1995;274:1031-1036)