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Foot, Bicycle Patrols in Downtown take on Pedestrians
Photo by mugley via Flickr
The LAPD's Central Division is increasing their resources in downtown in the form of eight bicycle patrols and new foot patrols finds downtown blog Angelenic. According to the Senior Lead Officer for the area (he's like the mini chief of police for a neighborhood), they are focusing on pedestrian enforcement. Blogger not happy:
Is this nipping larger crimes in the bud or is it just “Broken Windows” theory gone wild? Broken Windows, espoused by Chief Bratton and with a tried and true record in New York City, is the doctrine that preventing small crimes such as graffiti, subway fare evasion and petty theft — and punishing perpetrators accordingly — prevents larger crimes from happening. But when I can walk past 6th and Los Angeles and shifty-eyed loiterers approach me to buy my “stolen” laptop, when I walk down Spring Street and see a woman inducted into prostitution, and when I find myself in the Civic Center being physically threatened by a man much larger than me for money, focusing on office workers stepping off a Grand Avenue sidewalk a moment too late just seems ludicrous.