Photo: Eric Shalov · CC BY-SA 3.0Policing West Athens: who reports, and what
For a graded neighbor, the nearest is Gardena (D), 2 miles away. West Athens has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for West Athens alone, and no Safety Grade. 22 towns with a Safety Grade lie within 10 miles.
What stands out about safety in West Athens
Policed by the county
West Athens is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for West Athens. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest California towns with their own police figures are Gardena (D, 2 mi), Hawthorne (D, 3 mi), Inglewood (D, 3 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from West Athens. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Los Angeles County without police of their own, which include West Athens.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
The nearest California towns with a Safety Grade
Straight-line distance from the center of West Athens. Nearby towns can differ a lot from West Athens.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
14 people died in crashes on West Athens’s roads in 2019–2023
West Athens had 13 fatal crashes in five years, in which 14 people died; 8 were pedestrians. 6 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 32.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for California towns of 5,000–25,000 people (5.6, 355 towns).
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
West Athens and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawthorne | D | 6.5 | 22.2 |
| Los Angeles | D | 7.4 | 21.9 |
| Westmont | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Westmont is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in West Athens
Is West Athens, CA safe?
There is no Safety Grade for West Athens. The nearest California towns with a grade are Gardena (D, 2 mi), Hawthorne (D, 3 mi), Inglewood (D, 3 mi).
Who polices West Athens?
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office. West Athens is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Los Angeles County without police of their own.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in West Athens.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.