Harbor-Area Slayings Buck Trend

In the far southern reaches of Los Angeles, where cargo-laden 18-wheelers rumble by day and a thick blanket of fog rolls in most nights, 50 people have been killed this year.

So far.

With two days yet to go, the body count in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Division--which includes San Pedro, Wilmington and Harbor City--is up 72% from 29 in 1996.

The increase in the Harbor Division is perplexing because it comes amid a citywide decrease in homicides of about 17%. Fewer people have been slain this year in the city of Los Angeles than at any time since the late 1970s.

Police say they are at a loss to explain why the Harbor Division has had such a bloody year.

“It’s just happened,” said Capt. Richard LeGarra, who oversees homicide detectives throughout the city. “I can’t tell you why. Nobody can.”

Gang-related shootings account for 17 of the 50 killings. There were 14 gang homicides in 1996.

As for the remainder of the 1997 homicides, they are spread across various categories: Eight are drug-related. Six are linked to robberies. Eleven are tied to what police call “disputes,” such as an argument between neighbors. Six are “unknown.”

The remaining two, according to LAPD statistics, involve one stemming from domestic violence and one officer-involved shooting.

The 50 homicides have taken place “all over the area,” Capt. Robert B. Hansohn, commanding officer of the Harbor Division, said Monday in his office while reviewing a computer-generated map of the slaying sites. Gang-related “hits” are marked with black stars, the others with red.

“The homicides are not on one particular street,” LeGarra said. “It’s a shotgun pattern, throughout the entire area. Which makes it more difficult to figure out why it’s going on.”

Compounding the mystery: Overall, violent crime in the Harbor Division is down about 1% and property crimes--such as burglary and most thefts--are down 11% from 1996.

Through early December, for example, there were fewer robberies, burglaries and car thefts in the Harbor Division than through the same period in 1996, according to LAPD figures.

“It’s the story of the year here,” Hansohn said of the homicide count.

On average, the Harbor Division records about 35 homicides each year. In 1991, the number climbed to 41, Det. Mario Cortez said. Last year, it fell to 29.

This year, Det. Chuck Hawley said, there were 17 by the end of March.

A triple homicide believed to be linked to an argument among gang members over a woman contributed to the increase, detectives said. Police also believe one suspect, now in jail, may be linked to as many as five slayings.

In response, Harbor police have targeted “hardened criminals,” defined by police as parolees and those on felony probation, as well as “key gang members.”

The 27 square miles of Harbor Division are home to 10 active gangs and about 4,000 reputed gang members, Hansohn said.

In addition, a “pretty good war” developed between rival Latino gangs in Wilmington, “a lot of it over narcotics,” Cortez said.

“If you take the main players off the streets, the people we believe are responsible for major crime, you’ve got to have an impact,” Hansohn said.

Indeed, the homicide count slowed in the summer and fall.

In the last 10 weeks, detectives have been called to only five homicides.

With those numbers in mind, the watchwords at Harbor Division headquarters Monday were caution and hope. Caution, because New Year’s Eve is yet to come. And hope, because two days from now, the homicide count begins anew.

“You just never know,” Cortez said. “Next year it might be real low.”