17% Drop in Gang Killings Reported in South-Central

Citing a “massive law enforcement effort� in recent months, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Monday that gang-related murders in South-Central Los Angeles have dropped by 17% since the start of the year.

During the first eight months of 1988, according to LAPD statistics, there were 82 gang-related killings in South-Central, compared to 99 in the area during the same period in 1987.

The latest LAPD figures on gang violence in South-Central represent a dramatic statistical turnaround since the first few months of 1988--primarily the result of a 50% reduction in gang murders there in July and August.

Largely because of the South-Central murder statistics, the LAPD reported that gang-related murders throughout Los Angeles also were down at the end of August for the first time this year, although by the slimmest of margins--143 compared to 144.

Cmdr. William Booth, chief LAPD spokesman, said the LAPD’s massive task force operations in South-Central since late February and other anti-gang strategies have been major factors contributing to the decline in gang-related homicides.

“We owe a lot to a very supportive community,� Booth added. “The community not only supports anti-gang narcotic efforts, but literally has demanded that we go into that community in large numbers to disassemble the gangs.�

In contrast to the LAPD statistics, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported a continuing rise in gang-related homicides in its territory. During the first eight months of the year, the Sheriff’s Department reported 62 gang-related homicides, compared to 50 during the same period in 1987--a 24% increase.

Commenting on the different approaches of the LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department toward gang activity, Sgt. Wes McBride of the Sheriff’s Department’s Operation Safe Streets anti-gang program said the Sheriff’s Department lacks the personnel to conduct large task force operations.

“We can’t field 1,000 guys,� he said. “Obviously, I would think that if you keep putting task force operations on the street, it will affect statistics. “

Although Booth was clearly pleased by the statistical change in South-Central, he stopped short of saying that LAPD’s task force approach has effected any permanent change in gang activity there, stressing that LAPD’s large-scale operations are primarily short-range responses to gang activity.

“This trend is encouraging,� Booth said. “This should not suggest this is the ultimate solution. We have to view this kind of saturation enforcement as being short-term programs. The real answer to the gang problem is in the long-term programs of prevention.�

Booth also noted that besides the drop in gang-related murders, there has been a much larger decline in homicide generally throughout Los Angeles in 1988--with 444 murders compared to 537 in the first eight months of 1987.

In South-Central Los Angeles, Booth said, there were 204 murders in the first eight months of the year, compared to 281 during the same period in 1987--a drop of 27.4%.

The South-Central statistics were compiled from the LAPD’s Newton, Southwest, Southeast and 77th divisions. They showed that after a general monthly rise in gang killings during 1988, gang-related homicides dropped in July from 15 to 8 and in August from 17 to 8.

The decline in gang-related homicides follows a drop in other categories of gang crime in the South-Central area. According to the LAPD, overall gang crime is down 8.5%, gang robberies have dropped 26% and gang rapes are down 13% for the year.