According to police, more than a dozen Los Angeles gangs are targeting some of the city's wealthiest residents in a new and aggressive manner, sending out crews in multiple cars to find, follow and rob people. They are making off with designer handbags, diamond- studded watches and other items worth tens of thousands of dollars and then peddling them to black-market buyers who are willing to turn a blind eye. Police said that in some cases suspects have been arrested but then released from custody to commit more crimes. A Los Angeles Police Department task force convened at the end of last year to identify the cause of a sudden surge in follow home and follow off robberies, so called because victims are robbed soon after.LA Times
At least 17 gangs, most based out of South L.A. and operating independently, have been identified by police. He said there were 165 such robberies in the next two years and 56 so far this year.
The area with the most robberies was the Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, with 50, followed by 46 in the Wilshire Division and 40 in the Central Division. The Pacific Division had 17 units.
Police have identified people associated with both the Bloods and the Crips as the culprits of many robberies. The cases of the suspects identified by police are pending. The task force is still working on cases.
Police have identified crews rolling three to five cars deep in some of the attacks, with gang members jumping out and blindsiding victims.
There is no chance for these victims to comply. They are attacking people, whether that is putting a gun in their face or punching them and beating them.
Two people have been killed and 23 others have been shot in 23 cases.
He said that he had never seen anything like this in his 34 years on the job.
The trend in a city known for opulence as well as extreme poverty comes at a time when crime overall is under a microscope, with homicides, shootings and armed robberies all at elevated levels since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Activists and criminal justice reform advocates worry that wealthy residents with political clout and politicians who want to please them will use the trend to claw back gang involvement, based in part on fraught and sometimes false police assessments of gang involvement.
Hamid Khan, a prominent activist, accused the Los Angeles Police Department of blowing crime trends out of proportion to maintain their grip on the city's budget.
Khan said thatLAPD has to make itself useful to the community by raising the specter of people running wild.
Police said their intent is to draw attention to the problem of armed robberies and to stop them.
The city's more vulnerable populations, such as people who are homeless or live in poor communities, receive little notice of the increasing violence.
The number of follow-off robberies spiked dramatically at the end of last year, and celebrities such as actor and former host of the BET show, and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Dorit Kemsley, became victims.
There were 45 follow-off robberies in a four week period. There were 39 in November.
The task force was formed that month. Tippet was going to brief the police commission on the work of the task force on Tuesday.
In an interview with The Times, Tippet said that the arrests of some of the alleged gang members have made a big difference in the number of incidents.
He said that the trend is still a major concern because the same suspects keep getting released from jail and reoffending while awaiting trial.
He said he was absolutely frustrated.
Moore shared the same frustration when he briefed the Police Commission on the alleged actions of Matthew Adams.
Two UCLA students were robbed of two watches worth nearly $150,000 after leaving a club, one of eight follow-off robberies that Adams was involved in over a six-month period.
Adams was arrested three times during the course of the eight robberies. Moore said that Adams was found in a car that had been used in one of the robberies and that a gun was also found. Online court records show that no charges were ever filed against Adams in that case.
Adams was charged with illegal gun possession in both cases. Each time, he was released without having to pay bail. L.A. County defendants are required to be released without posting bail for certain offenses in order to reduce the jail population.
Adams, who could not be reached for comment, has been arrested a fourth time on charges related to seven robberies, to which he has pleaded not guilty. The public defender's office declined to comment on the case. According to court records, he is still in custody.
Adams earlier and repeated releases from custody endanger public safety and should not be let out before trial, according to Moore. He suggested that prosecutors played a part in not seeking certain charges against Adams that could have kept him in jail.
Moore was disappointed that the full weight of our existing laws was not brought down on Adams, not only to hold him accountable, but to provide a deterrent for other would-be robbers who might think such.
A spokesman for the L.A. County District was asked about Moore's claims. The Atty. is an Atty. The office of George Gasc said that Adams was not eligible for gun enhancements.
The spokesman said that gun enhancements were filed in the latest case against Adams.
A man named Cheyenne Hale was arrested this month on suspicion of being involved in an armed robbery of a man in downtown L.A. in October in which two watches were stolen.
Police recovered a loaded gun from Hale during his arrest and later found seven additional handguns, $21,000 in cash and a large quantity of drugs when they served a search warrant at Hale.
Hale has been released from custody, according to court records.
The president of the police commission said last week that the release of people accused of being involved in violent robberies at gunpoint was a failure of the criminal justice system.
The criminal justice system that we have right now is not working and is endangering the citizens of Los Angeles and is creating a public safety crisis.
The other commissioners were wary of focusing too much on Adams before they had their day in court.
The current discussion should not fail to recognize that the current discussions about individual career criminals have been used by politicians to stoke fear in the community and advance questionable criminal justice initiatives in the past.
He hopes that the work of his task force will encourage those engaged in such crimes to stop.
He said that people who are buying watches, handbags and other goods being stolen during such robberies should stop doing so because the task force is coming after them as well as multiple open investigations.
They are participating in the crime as well.
The story was originally published in the Los Angeles Times.
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