Safer Cities is Still Working, Says LAPD Report
Ed Fuentes
A July 2008 Skid Row Neighborhood Walk passes by an individual sprawled on the sidewalk.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — A report delivered to the Police Commission today defends the four-year-old Safer Cities Initiative, saying that the programs introduced in the Skid Row area have allowed the community to "reclaim their public spaces" and have made it possible for service providers "to operate without the fear of crime and violence."
The document, signed by LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and prepared in response to a December report by the L.A. Community Action Network, cites dramatically decreased crime statistics as support for its claim that the quality of life has improved in the Central City East neighborhood.
Numbers comparing 2010 to 2005 show serious crimes down 47 percent, and "street deaths" down 60 percent.
The report says that 26 percent of those arrested under the Safer Cities program were diverted into the "Streets or Services" program, which offers misdemeanor offenders the chance to enter a rehabilitation program instead of going to jail. That program was suspended recently due to budget cuts, but the report says that a new funding source has been identified.
The document—including the LACAN report—can be downloaded as a PDF from the City's servers.
KJ1 on March 08, 2011, at 09:13PM – #1
Nice! Thank you LAPD.
Robert A on March 09, 2011, at 07:33AM – #2
If we continue to demand clean and safe streets and parks, affordable housing and medication for the homeless and mentally ill and demand the County of Los Angeles spread the shelters available throughout the county...we will have a Downtown that will continue to thrive and become a model for others to emulate. We still have a long way to go. Keep up the great work LAPD and BID Security!
Don Garza on March 11, 2011, at 11:29PM – #3
My solution to fix skid row was to bring in the loft dwellers..... seems to be working with Safe Cities initiative... walking hand in hand the residents of skid row and the loft dwellers will soon have those who keep fighting to continue to live in 200 square foot rooms, and in filth , and in a place where those , the non-profits had no accountability with the money they were given, fighting for better living conditions. Believe me , those folks who fight the development and improvement of downtown , claiming to be victims , still live in the same situation while being pimped out for poverty pimps and those folks live somewhere else in nice homes and driving nice cars and enjoying nice parties... stay slaves if you want, not me... financial freedom is freedom.. fight for something better... don't fight to stay oppressed and stop with the victim mentality already.. as I am sure there are many in skid row stating the same thing...
Dixon on March 12, 2011, at 05:44PM – #4
200 square foot rooms? How many square feet do the Rosslyn Micro lofts have?
Bert Green (@bgfa) on March 14, 2011, at 09:16AM – #5
Thanks Eric for policing the troll.
Socaladvocates on March 29, 2011, at 11:04PM – #6
A lot of programs that have shown some level of effectiveness are probably going to be impacted by the cuts in programs that the city of Los Angeles is likely to be making. With the continuing fiscal crises it will be difficult to see how some areas that have shown improvement might be negatively impacted by program cuts.