Council Acts to Prevent Arson at Churches
In response to the recent spate of arson fires at black churches in the South, the Los Angeles City Council has asked city staff to review local church burnings and work to prevent such fires.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is setting up a toll-free phone number and an Internet address to gather tips on church fires.
In its unanimous vote Tuesday, the council asked the Human Relations Commission to distribute information on the crisis to residents citywide, directed the Fire Department to brief the council by month’s end and asked staffers to investigate whether religious institutions have trouble getting insurance.
The Wiesenthal Center in West Los Angeles, which monitors the activities of hate groups, will begin accepting tips and information on church fires that it will pass on to federal authorities.
The phone number to the center’s hate crimes hotline is (800) 900-9036. The Internet address on the World Wide Web is https://www.wiesenthal.com/watch/index.html.
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