Overall violent crime in Los Angeles is said to have dropped in the first few months of this year ©Getty Images

Overall violent crime in Los Angeles, the host city of the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, has dropped in the first few months of 2023, according to a report.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has claimed a drop in violent crime of three per cent when compared to 2019.

Rapes are said to be down "significantly" since a peak in 2016, while robberies are also down.

However, the murder rate jumped in 2020 and 2021 and has not returned to the levels before then.

Aggravated assaults have been on the rise since 2010.

"A lot of people are being victims of this gun violence right now at a rate unbelievable," said LaWanda Hawkins, founder of Justice for Murdered Children, to KABC.

Despite the overall drop in violent crime, murder rates in Los Angeles are said to remain
Despite the overall drop in violent crime, murder rates in Los Angeles are said to remain "high" ©Getty Images

"So when they say violent crime has gone down - I don't know what they mean. 

"Because I thought murder was a violent crime and I thought gun violence was a violent crime. 

"I don't know what crimes they're referring to - because murder is up."

Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian said he was pleased that "some categories" of violent crime are down, but he added that it's "not enough".

"Clearly we have to continue to do the work of making people safer in Los Angeles," Krekorian said. 

"And that's going to involve, of course, strengthening the presence of LAPD but it's also gonna mean working more closely with communities and finding alternatives to law enforcement as well."

LAPD chief of police Michel Moore has said he will likely hand over power to another officer before Los Angeles 2028.