Data Analysis Project #28: Crime in Los Angeles

by Ethan Balgemino and Mario Suarez

Topic Overview

Police Car

Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States, and it’s a globally renowned hub for entertainment, tourism, and business. However, much like other metropolises, the city is vulnerable to many different types of crime due to its sheer size and social disparities. The issue of crime in Los Angeles is a multifaceted topic that must be handled with great care and nuance in order to better understand the city’s problems and develop possible solutions to counter them.

The approach we took to understand crime in Los Angeles was organizing and analyzing the city’s official crime reports data from 2020 to the present in order to generate insights and discover potential patterns. In our analysis, we aimed to answer the following exploratory questions below. Check out our other pages to view our insights and conclusions!

Exploration Questions

What are the most common types of crimes among both violent and nonviolent offenses respectively?

Associated Visualization: Bar Chart of 10 Most Common Crime Codes among Violent Crimes (weapon involved) and Non-Violent Crimes (no weapon involved)

What percentage of total crimes are violent?

Associated Visualization: Pie Chart of Crimes by Violence Status (Violent or Non-Violent; Weapon-Involved vs. No Weapon-Involved)

What are the most common types of weapons used in violent crimes? (focusing on homicides, sexual assaults, assaults/batteries, and robberies)

Associated Visualization: Four labeled bar graphs of most commonly used weapons by crime, one for each crime type of interest

What LAPD Districts have the highest crime rates for the following four types of crimes?: homicides, sexual assaults, assaults/batteries, and robberies

Associated Visualization: Four bar graphs of crime rates (by 100k residents) by LAPD district in 2022, one for each crime of interest

Which racial demographics are more likely to be victimized in violent crime incidents? (again, focusing on homicides, sexual assaults, assaults/batteries, and robberies)

Associated Visualization: Four pie charts of victim by race in Los Angeles in 2022, one for each crime type of interest

What times of the year contain the highest crime incidence?

Associated Visualization: Animated Bar Graph of Crime by Month, 2020-2022

Meet the Project Team!

Ethan Balgemino

Ethan Balgemino

Hello, everyone! I'm Ethan Balgemino, a senior business analytics and global affairs student from Los Angeles, CA!

Mario Suarez

Mario Suarez

Hi! I'm Mario Suarez, a freshman Economics student from Ashburn, VA!