SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : LAPD Disbands RECON Undercover Drug Unit
Caught between the new Los Angles police chief’s desire to put more uniformed officers on the street and a decline in personnel, Foothill Division commanders have disbanded an undercover narcotics unit that made thousands of arrests, putting its officers back on the beat.
Disbanding the so-called RECON unit--at least temporarily--brought an immediate objection from community activists who said the squad was a vital tool in the fight against deeply rooted drug-sales problems.
Community support has saved the squad in the past. When the station commander disbanded the unit three years ago, angry residents staged protests before the Foothill station in Pacoima and the department’s downtown headquarters until the unit was reinstated.
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