Crime Rise Triggers a New Sweep on Gangs

As new statistics revealed a 9.2% increase in the number of crimes citywide, Los Angeles police continued their weekend sweep of gang-infested neighborhoods, arresting more than 185 people, including at least 153 suspected gang members.

The arrests were part of the Los Angeles Police Department’s periodic “Operation Hammer” to combat gang- and drug-related crimes.

Operation Hammer, which was introduced last year, is one of the task forces the Police Department is using to blitz the rising number of crimes citywide, said LAPD spokesman Lt. Fred Nixon.

Story in Figures

Statistics released Friday showed there were 162,711 major crimes recorded in Los Angeles during the first six months of 1989, compared to 149,021 in the same period last year.

There were also increases in almost all categories of serious crimes. Robberies rose 19.9%, with 14,654 robberies committed between Jan. 1 and June 30, compared with 12,214 in the same period last year. The next sharpest rise was in aggravated assaults, which rose 18% to 21,355 so far this year, compared to 18,065 last year. Auto thefts were up 14.6%; homicides rose 14.5% to 395 so far this year; auto burglaries increased 7.1%; thefts from autos were up 3.2% and rapes rose 0.2% to 992.

The only crimes showing a decline were thefts from people--down 14.5%--and burglaries--down by 4.3%.

“With the numbers being no more encouraging than they are,” Nixon said, Police Chief Daryl F. Gates “is mandating his managers to reverse that.”

On Friday and Saturday evenings, an extra 200 officers were deployed in neighborhoods in Rampart, Northeast, Newton, Hollenbeck and Central areas. About 60 arrests were made early Saturday night, most of them suspected gang members, said Sgt. John Fletcher. The sweep was scheduled to continue into this morning. On Friday, police spokesmen said they made 127 arrests and seized six cars. The seizure of suspected gang members’ cars is an important part of Operation Hammer, police say.

Less Mobility

Said Sgt. Steve Tuohy: “If we get a carload of gang members and we have any legal justification, we impound the car. We use that as a tool to take away their wheels for a bit. It gives them less mobility.”

Despite the increased patrols, police reported that five people were wounded in gang-related shootings early Saturday. In South-Central Los Angeles, two male gang members and a teen-age girl were wounded in a drive-by shooting. The names of the three victims were not immediately released.

Another unidentified man was wounded in the buttocks in what police say was a gang-related drive-by shooting in Lincoln Heights early Saturday morning. And police reported that another man was shot and wounded in the foot about 1 a.m. Saturday southwest of downtown.