Central Los Angeles : Task Force to Fight Crime Near School
Drunks, prostitutes and drug dealers are among the unsavory characters that children must dodge when walking to and from Esperanza Elementary School on 7th Street at Union Avenue.
So fed-up parents, teachers and community activists have brought in the law.
A task force formed by the police, the city attorney’s office and the Department of Building and Safety is working to weed out drug dealers--and the other criminals they attract--from the neighborhood surrounding the school.
Known as Focused Attack Linking Community Organizations and Neighborhoods, or FALCON, the task force uses tips from residents and business owners to find drug dealers who operate out of rented property. The property owners are then told either to cooperate with authorities and help drive the dealers out or face loss of their buildings.
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