Local News in Brief : Crackdown in Parks Brings 16 Arrests
Amid complaints from West Hollywood officials that drug dealing and alcohol abuse are out of control in that city’s two main parks, at least 16 people have been arrested as part of a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department crackdown in the parks in the last two weeks.
“We’ve been asked (by city officials) to clean up the parks, and that’s what we intend to do,” said Capt. Rachel Burgess, who supervises the West Hollywood sheriff’s station.
Sheriff’s officials said 10 of the arrests occurred at West Hollywood Park, where the city operates a temporary shelter for homeless people and where an increasing number of the homeless have congregated in recent months. Another six people were arrested at Plummer Park.
The crackdown so far has been aimed at stricter enforcement of a midnight-to-6 a.m. curfew, and the department will soon begin using plainclothes sheriff’s deputies in the parks, Burgess said.
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