JUST THE FACTS-Crime in Los Angeles is increasing at an alarming rate and our Mayor and Police Commission have no idea how to address the matter other than the usual smoke and mirrors and news conferences that will not have any impact or reversal of the troubling trends negatively impacting all regions of Los Angeles City.
Los Angeles has 21 police divisions and all divisions are in a crisis mode with the most recent crime statistics. A recent mass transfer of division police captains will not have a positive impact on the crime numbers either. This will only cause more confusion for the dedicated and concerned uniformed and detective personnel from the city’s 21 uniformed police divisions and many specialized divisions.
The most recent crime reports show a 20.6% increase in violent crime offenses across the Los Angeles City regions. These numbers include assaults and robberies. Property crime is up 10.9% with burglaries, thefts and motor vehicle thefts up 12.7% to date.
The largest increase is in the Central portion of Los Angeles, which is near City Hall and the central business district.
Violent crime is up an incredible 67% while property crime has jumped 26%. These numbers represent real crime victims and a trend that is getting worse and not better.
With the current leadership in the Mayor’s office and with their heads buried in the sand at the police commission, the matter will get much worse until the leaders in city hall get out of the bunker mentality and realize that supporting the police officers in Los Angeles will motivate the officers to take the risk and confront suspects and not fear risking their careers by an uncaring and out of touch city hall administration.
To illustrate my point, I will use recent Los Angeles Police incidents to show how the influence of the Mayor’s office and Police Commission impact the rank and file officers and how they either take the risk and perform their job of “Protecting and Serving” the people of Los Angeles or use caution to protect their career and stay out of trouble and the headlines.
When confronted with a violent suspect, LAPD Officers in or out of uniform resort to their training and field tactics. When the suspect fails to comply with the directions of the officer, the officer is trained to utilize certain “tools” to take the individual into custody in a humane fashion with the least amount of physical force. When all else fails, deadly force is sometimes the last resort the officer has at his or her disposal. When deadly force is utilized, multiple investigations are launched by a variety of investigative branches of the city, county and sometimes state and federal government. The intense investigations get to the core of the matter and reveal their findings to the public.
When the police chief and inspector general render a finding on a case, it is based on a through and complete investigation. The Mayor and Police Commission both lack any expertise in the world of police work and their uneducated opinion or findings undermine the members of the police department attempting to protect and serve the public of Los Angeles.
The bottom line is that when the officers perform their difficult duties and take on the risk of engaging with a suspect and the Mayor’s Office or Police Commission do not support their actions, the rippling effect is fewer officers engaging suspects and crime surges.
Wake up Los Angeles and let your elected leaders know that you are fed up with increasing crime and demand that your police officers receive proper training, equipment and support from those that establish the rules and regulations for the LAPD.
(Dennis P. Zine is a 33 year member of the Los Angeles Police Department and former Vice-Chairman of the Elected Los Angeles City Charter Reform Commission, 12 year member of the Los Angeles City Council and current LAPD Reserve Officer. He writes Just the Facts for CityWatch. You can contact him at [email protected])
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 58
Pub: Jul 17, 2015
