The Source for Crime and Justice Data

Description & Citation--Study No. 3680

Bibliographic Description

Study No.:

03680

Title:

Los Angeles Homicides, 1830-2003

Principal Investigator(s):

Monkkonen, Eric H., University of California-Los Angeles. Departments of History and Policy Studies

Funding:

National Science Foundation (SES0111725)

National Consortium on Violence Research

University of California-Los Angeles. Academic Senate

Bibliographic Citation:

Monkkonen, Eric H. Los Angeles Homicides, 1830-2003. ICPSR03680-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2005-08-04. doi:10.3886/ICPSR03680.v2

Scope of Study

Summary:

There has been little research on United States homicide rates from a long-term perspective, primarily because there has been no consistent data series on a particular place preceding the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), which began its first full year in 1931. To fill this research gap, this project created a data series that spans two centuries on homicides per capita for the city of Los Angeles. The goal was to create a site-specific, individual-based data series that could be used to examine major social shifts related to homicide, such as mass immigration, urban growth, war, demographic changes, and changes in laws. The basic approach to the data collection was to obtain the best possible estimate of annual counts and the most complete information on individual homicides. Data were derived from multiple sources, including Los Angeles court records, as well as annual reports of the coroner and daily newspapers. Part 1 (Annual Homicides and Related Data) variables include Los Angeles County annual counts of homicides, counts of female victims, method of killing such as drowning, suffocating, or strangling, and the homicide rate. Part 2 (Individual Homicide Data) variables include the date and place of the murder, the age, sex, race, and place of birth of the offender and victim, type of weapon used, and source of data.

Subject Terms:

crime rates, crime statistics, historical data, homicide, murder, offenders, victims, weapons

Geographic Coverage:

California, Los Angeles, United States

Time Period:
  • 1830--2003

Date of Collection:
  • 1995--2003

Universe:

All homicides in Los Angeles between 1830 and 2003.

Data Types:

administrative records data

Data Collection Notes:

(1) A detailed list of the sources used to create the data files can be found in the appendix to the codebook. (2) Data were collected from a number of archival sources including, but not limited to, the sources listed.

Methodology

Data Source:

Los Angeles County court records, annual coroners' reports, daily newspapers

Access and Availability

Note:

Detailed file-level information (such as record length, case count, and variable count) is listed in the file manifest.

Original ICPSR Release:

2003-04-11

Restrictions:

To protect respondent privacy, this data collection is restricted from general dissemination. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Data Transfer Agreement Form and specify the reasons for the request. A copy of the Data Transfer Agreement Form can be requested by calling 800-999-0960 or 734-647-5000. The Data Transfer Agreement Form is also available as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file from the NACJD Web site at http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/Private/private.pdf. Completed forms should be returned to: Director, National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, Institute for Social Research, P.O. Box 1248, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, or by fax: 734-647-8200.

Version History:

  • 2005-08-04 ICPSR created new data files, setup files, and codebook because the principal investigator added more data to the collection.

Dataset(s):
  • DS1: Annual Homicides and Related Data
  • DS2: Individual Homicide Data