Crime is down, but fear is up: Why is LA still perceived as dangerous?

Skipp Townsend remembers a time when crime got so bad at Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard that Metro buses used to barely slow down at the bus stop, where gang members were known to jump aboard and pick fights with passengers.

In those days, a seemingly endless spate of shootings and robberies left neighbors afraid to leave their homes, Townsend said, and a trip to the gas station in this corner of South Los Angeles would get you "pocket checked" by the men who hung out there, day and night.

"I probably would've gotten beaten up or told to leave," said Townsend, part of a loose network of gang interventionists who try to prevent retaliatory violence by tamping down rumors and connecting gang members with social services.

Though police statistics show crime is down in the surrounding area, Townsend often finds himself pushing back against claims that violence is spiking to levels not seen since the old days.

That disconnect isn't just in South L.A.

Citywide, violent crime has declined nearly 7% compared with this time last year, with 1,650 fewer incidents reported