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The Los Angeles Police Department has shifted about 200 officers to Hollywood as crime in the city continues to surge.
“I’m here as a resident, a concerned resident,” Cathy Hood said during a Wednesday anti-crime news conference, according to KABC. “I don’t feel 100% safe.”
Residents like Hood have forced LAPD to act, and the department’s Deputy Chief Blake Chow boasted that the famed area would be receiving a large boost in police presence.
“That’s really basically about 200 more officers out on the street here on Hollywood Boulevard,” Chow said. “They’re going to be on foot, they’re going to be in patrol cars, they’re going to be on horseback, they’re going to be on bikes.”
LA CITY COUNCIL GREENLIGHTS BAN ON HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS 500 FEET FROM SCHOOLS, DAYCARE CENTERS
Hikers pass by the Hollywood sign in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
(REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson – RC149CE960F0)
The event was organized by Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, who warned potential criminals that a perception that the city’s local prosecutors aren’t going after them was false.
“If you come here to commit crime, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted, you will be jailed or imprisoned,” O’Farrell said. “There is no permissiveness in Hollywood. We’re not going to permit or tolerate that.”
But shortly before the event, an armed robbery about a mile away turned into a shooting, with a man being shot in the chest after a robber demanded he hand over his wallet and phone. Police say the man was transferred to the hospital in critical condition, while the shooter remains at large.
Los Angeles Police Department headquarters.
(Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)
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The shooting just a short distance away from the anti-crime event was representative of the problem Los Angeles residents have been facing, with homicides recorded in the city on pace to be the highest in over a decade.
“181 murder victims. We’re on pace for a 15-year-high,” Sgt. Jerretta Sandoz with the Los Angeles Police Protective League told KABC. “This is very, very scary for our city and it’s scary for the residents that we are supposed to protect.”
