LAPD reports fewer shootings, falling homicides but opens probes after two homicide responses; commissioners press on staffing

The Los Angeles Police Department reported a mix of declining citywide violence and active, high-profile investigations on May 6 during a regular meeting of the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners.

In a prepared report, the department described two recent officer-involved shootings and several homicide investigations now the subject of criminal and administrative inquiries, while also reporting year-to-date crime trends and current staffing levels. Commissioners pressed the department for details about specific investigations and the effect of civilian staffing shortfalls.

Why it matters: The chief’s update combined operational statistics — including declines in some categories of violent crime — with several incidents that have prompted follow-up criminal probes and internal administrative reviews. Commissioners said they wanted clarity about on-scene decision-making, oversight and the potential effects of proposed civilian staffing cuts on investigatory work.

The chief of police summarized key operational incidents. On April 23, Southeast Division officers attempted a vehicle stop of a suspect identified in the report as Osman Brezinho; that encounter led to a pursuit, a foot chase and an officer-involved shooting after officers said the suspect reached into a backpack. Brezinho was struck, taken into custody and transported to a hospital; the department’s Force Investigation Division is investigating the shooting, the report said.

On May 3, officers responded to a domestic violence call in Southeast involving a suspect later identified as Shamar Bennett, who the department said threatened suicide-by-police and was armed with an AR-style, CO2-powered pistol. An officer-involved shooting occurred after officers made entry; Bennett was struck, taken to a hospital and later booked. The rifle was recovered and booked as evidence. The Force Investigation Division is also investigating that event, the department said.

The commission was told two homicide investigations — a homicide in Van Nuys and a Topanga-area homicide — prompted administrative reviews of the earlier officer responses. In the Van Nuys case, officers had responded to a welfare check days before the body was discovered; the department opened an administrative investigation to evaluate whether the first response should have prompted additional follow-up. In the Topanga case, officers previously responded to an early-morning radio call in which they found no signs of disturbance; detectives later treated the scene as a homicide and an administrative review was opened to examine the earlier calls and responses.

The department also gave a status update on several investigative priorities. The Major Theft Task Force and coordinating units arrested suspects believed tied to a multi-jurisdictional burglary crew described in the report as a South American theft group; detectives executed search efforts and made multiple arrests, including suspects identified as Jose Suarez Contreras and Jose Pinto Leyva, the report said. In another case, Wilshire-area detectives arrested a suspect in a kidnapping-robbery of an app-based delivery driver and recovered two handguns during a follow-up apartment search; that arrest was reported May 5 and the suspect was booked on kidnap-for-robbery charges (the agenda cited Penal Code 209 in connection with that charge).

Crime trends presented to the commission showed mixed movement: the department reported combined persons and property crimes down 10.3% during a recent four-week comparison (877 fewer crimes), driven largely by a 15% decrease in property crime. Homicides were down 28.8% year-to-date (reported as 30 fewer victims), and victims shot citywide were down 13.6% (reported as 50 fewer victims). At the same time, aggravated assaults rose 9.7% in the four-week period reported, and the department noted localized spikes in Newton, West LA and parts of the Valley.

Personnel and capacity: the department reported having 8,738 sworn personnel and 2,675 civilian professional staff as of May 5, with a reserve officer complement of 360. Commissioners and the chief discussed the operational impact of civilian staffing reductions, with commissioners stressing that many civilian positions — forensic analysts, fingerprint technicians and other technical specialists — cannot be backfilled effectively by sworn officers.

Oversight, probes and next steps: Force Investigation Division investigators were described as working the two officer-involved shootings and multiple homicide investigations; commissioners asked if the California Department of Justice had been informed about the Southeast shooting, and the chief said the commission would check the status with DOJ. The department said administrative inquiries remain open into the initial responses at the Van Nuys and Topanga scenes.

Public comment: multiple members of the public used the meeting’s public comment period to raise concerns about officer conduct, transparency and donations to the department. Speakers and organizations alleged misconduct in specific incidents and urged additional investigations; other public commenters raised separate concerns about LAPD collaborations with federal immigration or other agencies and long-standing community complaints about institutional behavior. Those remarks were presented as public comment and not as findings by the commission or the department.

The commission did not take a formal vote on operational matters during the portion of the meeting covered by the report. Investigations described in the chief’s presentation remain active; the commission asked staff for follow-up briefings and additional detail about administrative reviews and the status of external notifications.

Commissioners indicated they will continue oversight work, asking for more information about scene handling in the Van Nuys and Topanga cases, the status of any concurrent state investigations, and the operational impacts of potential civilian staffing cuts.

— Reporting by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners meeting on May 6, 2025. The LAPD’s Force Investigation Division and operations bureaus provided the incident descriptions cited to the commission.