By Daily Press staff
LOS ANGELES Murders sharply declined last year in those areas of the county patrolled by the Sheriff’s Department, dipping 17 percent, from 328 homicides in 2006 to 273 in 2007.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca credited efforts that crack down on gangs for much of the success, alluding to the board of supervisors’ increased financial commitments to tackling violent crime.
“Our aggressive law enforcement strategy, combined with smart and dedicated deputies, continues to show results,” Baca said.“We will continue to be relentless in our efforts to keep our neighborhoods safe.”
The Operation Safe Streets Bureau (OSS), responsible for combating gang-related crime, received additional personnel in 2007, including 15 new investigators. In addition, 26 vacant deputy positions were filled.
OSS participated in a multi-jurisdictional operation that produced more than 100 indictments of Florencia-13 gang members. The bureau made more than 3,500 arrests last year, managing an 11-percent increase in case workload over the previous year.
“By targeting the most violent gangs and their members, deploying more personnel in the field during evening hours, cultivating more informants within gangs, and through more extensive collaboration with local state and federal law enforcement agencies, we were successful in achieving this result,” said Capt. James Curtis, of the Sheriff’s Homicide Division. “Clearly, additional resources garner greater results.”
The Sheriff’s Department patrols unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, as well as 41 cities that contract with the Sheriff’s Department for municipal police services. One such agency — the city of Compton — experienced a sharp decline in homicides, from 48 in 2006 to 39 in 2007.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 8, 2008. Read the original PDF.