Nearly one quarter of the murders recorded in Los Angeles in 2022 described the victim has homeless, a hugely disproportionate number considering homeless people make up roughly 1% of the City's population of more than 3.8-million.
Year-end crime data for 2022 reviewed by the I-Team showed LAPD detectives investigated 381 homicides and listed the victims as homeless in 92 of them, or 24% of all cases.
In 2021 the data showed victims described as homeless represented 23% of the City's 408 homicides.
People living in tents, RVs, or encampments are far more vulnerable to harm beyond violence.
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The LA County Department of Health reported last year that deaths of homeless people for all causes have climbed each year since 2017, with drug overdoses, heart disease, Covid-19, and traffic injuries claiming more lives than murders (the Health report examined deaths in all of LA County, not just in the City of LA).
