Mayor Karen Bass' push to increase the number of police officers on the streets of L.A. may be viewed by some as a betrayal of progressive ideology, but the reality is people are afraid — and justifiably so.
Over the past three years, the Los Angeles Police Department has been hemorrhaging officers — down almost 1,000 compared with 2019 — and struggling to recruit replacements. The department has resorted to asking former officers to come out of retirement.
Meanwhile, anyone paying attention to the news in Los Angeles is understandably on edge. In the past 12 months, 664 people were killed in Los Angeles County. There have been videos of smash-and-grab robberies on the news and on social media, and high-profile home invasions. Bass delivered her first "state of the city" address on Monday, just days after a spate of so-called street takeovers — this time in Compton — resulted in damaged buildings and thousands stolen from businesses.
