The Rising Death Toll in Los Angeles

By Alex A. Alonso (Streetgangs.com)
December 9, 2002

Living in a large urban center often equates to living near or within the criminal epicenter, especially for inner-city dwellers where crime is most concentrated. That means that killings is an everyday occurrence, and it has been that way in Los Angeles and other large cities for decades. During the late 1980s and early 1990s the City of Los Angeles averaged 2.73 murders per day. Homicide surges are not new for Los Angeles, but what can be done about the recent increase in crime and murders taking place now? Much of what I hear regarding solutions is pure rhetoric and posturing that are at best short-term solutions.

When crime was reaching record low numbers from the mid- to late-1990s, everyone was taking credit. Hahn and his gang injunction strategy, California three strikes law, increased community policing, stricter gun laws, heavier sentencing, and the formation of grass roots organizations. Are we now experiencing a breakdown in all those institutions and policies simultaneously? Now all you hear and see is finger pointing and name blaming of others for the recent street killings. For example Mr. Hayes, a homeless advocate in Los Angeles, believes that the black leadership in Los Angeles, that includes Danny Bakewell of the Brotherhood Crusade, Rev. Chip Murray of the First AME Church, and Congresswoman Maxine Waters, for creating a community of dissension that is frustrated with the establishment where race is a central issue that has resulted in minority youths lashing back violently. Mr. Hayes brings up some excellent points regarding the selfish political agendas of these people, including Jesse Jackson who has been associated as a shakedown artist that has been successful at convincing corporations to fork over large financial settlements for alleged racism, but Hayes’ link between the recent crime spike and the selfish political agendas of so-called leaders, is poorly thought out with no empirical evidence, and just flat out wrong. The Black political leadership has been operating in the same fashion since the early 1970s when Mayor Tom Bradley was in office and throughout the 1990s when crime was an insignificant political topic, and the Black leadership was doing the same thing. Nothing is new Mr. Hayes.

Larry Elder, radio talk show commentator, has simplified this problem as a law enforcement issue. He states that having more officers will equal more arrests resulting in less crime. The LAPD is believed to have one of the smallest police forces for a large city and it has been a political hot topic for over 20 years but this issue only makes headlines when crime increases. When crimes reaches record low numbers you hear no one saying, “we had enough police officers for that success.”

Additionally, comparisons to New York City’s 39,000 member police department are unequal, because NYC has over 8 million residents compared to 3.8 million residents in Los Angeles. Additionally the NYPD covers an entire underground subway system that carries millions of commuters everyday, they are responsible for policing 1,567 buildings that make up 176 public housing developments in the City Of New York, and they also police the public schools. LAPD’s force does not police public transit, public schools, or the housing projects. There is a reason why New York has 39,000 officers, and even with one of the largest police forces in the Country, NYC had one of the highest crime rates in the nation in the early 1990s.

We must not forget the results of suppression techniques of the past that poured hundreds of officers on the streets, such as former Chief Daryl Gate’s Operation Hammer where intensive gang sweeps were implemented from 1988-1990 yielded no success. Additionally former Chief Willie Williams attempted aggressive police strategies in 1995 with similar results. Although theoretically it may sound logical that more police officers would be the best response to an increased crime trend, evidence making that correllation have been weak.

The fact is that current crime trends in Los Angeles, although increasing, are at 1970s levels and Los Angeles recently experienced four consecutive years with all time record low figures in crime and homicides (1996-1999) with a police force nearly the same size as it is now which is slightly above 9,000 officers. The LAPD has the most effective SWAT in the country, one of the most rigorous police academies, and highly sophisticated training programs. In addition the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has about 10,000 deputies and a collaboration between the two agencies can be and at times has been extremely effective.

During Operation Hammer, one weekend in April of 1988 the LAPD arrested 1,453 people in gang sweeps that they deemed “successful.” The arrests included felons as well as those with minor infractions. Many that were picked up for minor violations were released the same night, and forty-five percent of those arrested were non-gang members. Again during Operation Hammer, on Good Friday, Stacey Childress, 19, was killed while ten others lay in the street injured in what the police called “one of the worst drive-by shootings in the city’s history.” The following week three people where killed in separate drive-by shootings during one of LAPD’s gang sweeps, which had 1,000 officers on the streets that night. Also in September of 1988, Officer Daniel Pratt from LAPD’s 77th Division was gunned down on Florence Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard by a Blood gang member when he was working as an undercover officer. By year’s end there were 3,065 gang related crimes committed and 452 gang related homicides, despite the massive sweep efforts and arrests of thousands of gang members. In Los Angeles, 1988 was dubbed the “year of the gang” and Gate’s Operation Hammer did not prove to be “successful”. Sociologist Malcolm Klein suggested that Gate’s militaristic approach was remarkably inefficient, and an enormous waste of enforcement effort.

Jill Stewart, a fill-in radio talk show host on 640 KFI suggests that “broken windows” theory is an excellent way to get at the current crime trend. This would consist of abating graffiti, cleaning up streets, fixing houses and basically repairing all the visual decay that exists in a city. This theory was made popular by James Wilson & George Kelling (1982) but the practicality of that approach has never lead to measurable reduction of crime or a way to combat gang violence. Much of their theory was associated with perceptions of residents and not real life activity.

For example they cited a study in Washington D.C. that found that foot patrol officers in a neighborhood did not reduce crime, but it made the residents feel better about their presence. They also found that not necessarily criminal minded people, but panhandlers, drunks, rowdy kids, and loiterers added to the disorderly nature of an area that residents feared the most. Broken windows addresses those types of offenders but any link between violent crime and broken windows theory has yet to be seen. Broken windows, is at most a band-aid short-term solution to serious and complex community problems, but the house needs more than the windows repaired, it needs the entire plumbing upgraded. What good is having fixed windows if the infrastructure of the house including the plumbing, running water, electricity, and roof need repair?

An aggressive and heightened policing strategy will fail as they have always failed because it not dealing with the underlying problems within a community, so the government will continue to spend millions of dollars in policing, prosecuting and incarcerating thousands of youth with the philosophy the law enforcement community can arrest their was to a solution. Using RICO statutes and the Homeland Security Bill will have some short-term impact on very localized crime but ultimately it will pit the street youth against law enforcement in a very contested battle that will increase the victim count. Chief Bratton is going to have to work with the community beyond the clergy and make some ties with credible street workers, counselors and older gang members that want the killing to stop. Has Chief Bratton reached out to the community and spoke to many of people/organizations working on youth violence? These are the types of people and organization that can provide the muscle to stop a reprisal and that can be more effective in dealing with conflict resolution on micro-level.

As we enter 2003 I can be confident to inform the general public that the increasing crime trend will continue, regardless of the plan that Chief Bratton will implement. Expect approximately 700 homicides next year because the cycle of crime is much too powerful to impede by draconian police tactics that have proved to result in catastrophic consequences. In addition to the history of failure that LAPD has had with gangs, I also say this because of the continuing negative economic indicators that started in early 2000. The Federal Reserve signaled a strong shift in its concerns, from inflation to a slowing economy back in 2000 and Alan Greenspan has continued to cut interest rates. Consumer confidence has been low and there are reports of substantial shortfalls in sales and earnings while there are stress indicators in some segments of the financial markets and corporate (Enron, Arthur Anderson, United Airlines, etc).

Unemployment is rising and the level of layoffs has reach record levels. For the poor, this could be one of the most devastating recessions in the last 40 years because it will be the first recession since the 1996 welfare reform act. Poor families are more vulnerable to the recent economic downswing and the safety net to rely on has been eliminated when Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996. Additionally, layoffs in the last two years, which we expect to continue, will have a devastating impact on the economy. Some layoffs include 2,500 at Motorola in Harvard, IL (6-30-01); 2,870 at another Motorola facility in Iowa, and in Boyton Beach (4-27-02); 25,000 at Boeing including 7,000 at the St. Louis plant; 725 at AOL in Dulles, VA (8-14-01); 3,400 at Charles Schwab in San Francisco (8-30-01) and they suffered the 1st quarterly loss in 14 years (1-15-02); 2,400 at Pirelli Tires; and 1,100 at American Airlines (12-4-02). These are just a few of the layoffs that have affected our economy and the majority of recent scholarly analysis on the topic of crime and economy has found that increased crime rates are directly related to the languishing economy. Let’s hope for an upswing in the economy if we want crime to taper off, but a solid economic burst is at least several years away.