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.
Monkkonen, Eric H. Los Angeles Homicides, 1830-2003. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2012-08-22. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR03680.v2
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National Science Foundation (SES0111725),
National Consortium on Violence Research,
University of California-Los Angeles. Academic Senate,
United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics
Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research