Despite a flurry of shootings last week that injured eight people, an article in today’s Press-Telegram by Kelly Puente indicates that gang-related crime has dropped this year.

Writes Puente:

As of Monday, the city has seen a 5.6 percent drop in gang-related shootings compared with the same time last year, [Cmdr. Laura] Farinella said.

The number of shootings, gang-related and otherwise, has dropped every month this year except for June, which stayed the same, she added.

The commander attributed the downward trend to proactive police work, noting that the gang member who allegedly shot 4-year-old Josue Hercules was in custody in less than 48 hours.

That gang-related shootings have fallen below last year’s numbers may be a bit surprising, considering the rather violent first six months of 2009. Police Chief Tony Batts acknowledged in an lbpost.com interview in June that violent activity had increased in the city.

“This is a very challenging time,” Batts said in June. “And I have to tell you that I saw it coming. I anticipated that this year would be challenging – it’s been more challenging than what I thought it was going to be, to be perfectly honest.”

Deputy Chief William Blair in May said that officer-involved shootings had increased because more suspects were carrying weapons than ever before.

“A majority of the circumstances that we’ve had this year have all involved armed suspects, which for us is above what we have handled in the past,” Blair said at a press conference then. “I think we are seeing something that is indicative of a nationwide trend. More armed violence.”

But Puente’s article today may show a different side of the story – crime slowing down during summer, which is normally a more busy period of the year. The LBPD certainly recognized the rising crime statistics and pledged to organize task forces to curb violence during the summer. In our June interview, Batts reiterated that the Force was responding to the crime spike and had a gameplan for the summer months that he felt would be effective. With gang-related violence levels retreating to mark lower than last year’s totals – as stated in Puente’s article – that gameplan seems to be working.

Have you noticed a decrease in crime throughout the city lately?