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Crime's Down, yet Surge of Violence has Police in Action
Photo by Ca-los! via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr
With less than a week left, there have been 18 gang-related homicides this month in South LA. That's already six more than July meaning close to 40 deaths in two months for one region of the city. That said, the LAPD and other agencies announced an effort today to flatten that trend. "Every spike in crime is a clue for preventative measures," said Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese, Commanding Officer, Operations-South Bureau. In this case, preventative measures used by authorities will take a "more traditional presence in the area of the trend to it from gaining momentum" because the spike is not related to any specific gang or gangs, according to an LAPD statement. Each participating agency, such as the FBI, will focus on its own expertise.
Over the weekend, five people were killed, some in what police are calling gang-related incidents. Civil rights leaders say one of homicides is the result of an ongoing feud between a few gangs in the Hyde Park area.
Chief William Bratton is calling this inter-agency effort an easy one. “Obstacles that would have previously prevented a multi-agency approach to combating crime have been overcome in advance of a spike in crime," he said. "The result is that now a simple phone call is all that is needed to pull together a task force literally overnight.”
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