The claim is not that LA is a third world city right now. The claim is that it is becoming a third world city. If you had grown up in LA and seen what has happened to it in the last 30+ years, you would probably understand the cause for cocern.
As a matter of fact, Indianapolis has substantially more crime per capita in EVERY SINGLE major crime category than LA, California.
Latest 2006 Crimes per 100,000 People:
Indianapolis, IN | Los Angeles, CA | National | |
Murder: | 17.5 | 12.4 | 7 |
Forcible Rape: | 68.54 | 27.3 | 32.2 |
Robbery: | 405.6 | 370 | 205.8 |
Aggravated Assault: | 468.3 | 377.2 | 336.5 |
Burglary: | 1465 | 524.8 | 813.2 |
Larceny Theft: | 3611.8 | 1539.2 | 2601.7 |
Vehicle Theft: | 1115.6 | 654.4 | 501.5 |