How does gun violence in LA compare to the rest of the US? We just had a weekend of emotional calls from teenagers for stricter gun control and a commitment to fight violence. We talk to a young LA student activist about his experience growing up dodging bullets, and get perspective on violence nationwide from Jill Leovy, who’s spent 10 years reporting on gun violence in LA County. Steve Cayetano (right) with Students Demand Action. Courtesy of Cayetano.

LAPD Focuses on South LA The Los Angeles Police Department says it’ll send dozens of elite officers into South LA in response to an increase in crime and reported gang violence. The department is highlighting the fact that about half of the 39 killings that happened, in the city as a whole, in the month of August, took place in that area. Will the strategy work? And what’s going on with the crime rate in cities all across the country, and right here in Los Angeles?

What Does the Rising Homicide Rate Say about South LA? Last month, there were 29 homicides in Los Angeles, compared to 21 in January of last year.  That increase has led the LAPD to beef up its presence in the Southeast, 77th, Newton and Hollenbeck Divisions.  Extra officers are on duty — and in uniform.  LA Times reporter Jill Leovy reported on every homicide that occurred in the year 2007 -- during an epidemic of killing that began in the 1990's.  She created the paper's Homicide Report blog and wrote a book, just out, called Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America .

A Progress Report on California Cops A new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California found that a solid majority of adults think their police departments are doing an excellent or good job. But among ethnic minorities there's a sharp divide. Most whites, Latinos and Asians give local police high marks, but only 36 percent of black respondents do.

Why Don’t Angelenos Care About Gangs? Statistically speaking, gang-related killings are down this year in LA. But as LA Times columnist Steve Lopez points out, “it doesn’t feel like that.” One recent high-profile victim was Jamiel Shaw—known as “Jazz”—a 17-year old high-school football star with no gang connections and a promising future. He was black, and the police think he was killed by Latino gang members. The apparently random shooting occurred in the West Adams district, which straddles the Santa Monica Freeway. He was shot in a neighborhood that’s mixed both racially and economically.