Crime trends in Los Angeles tend to start quickly and spiral out of control before being overtaken by the next criminal phenomenon. In recent years, the city has been plagued by a wave of catalytic converter thefts from parked cars, smash-and-grab robberies at high-end stores, shoplifting at big box stores and mom-and-pop, alleged “thief tourism” committed by visitors from South America, and stripping street lights for copper wires, among other crimes.
The city needs a police department that is quick enough to identify and break these trends. You must have sufficient investigative resources, an ear to the ground in the criminal underworld, and established lines of communication with the city and other agencies to prevent crime from becoming a trend in the first place.
And most importantly, it takes leaders with vision, skills and persuasive power to direct officers who are often focused on fighting crime trends with decades-old approaches and by undoing reforms that have won – for example, misdemeanor status for drug possession and elimination . bail money for most misdemeanor arrests in Los Angeles County.
That’s something Mayor Karen Bass and the Board of Police Commissioners should keep in mind when they choose a new leader for the Los Angeles Police Department later this year. Chief Dominic Choi served in an interim capacity between the departure earlier this year of Chief Michel Moore and the selection and installation of a new chief for a five-year term.
Although others are involved in vetting the applicants, the final choice is the mayor, and he manages the process. Improving and directing the police department is a top priority, along with the related priority of reducing homelessness. Bass is perfect for this task; he has devoted much of his career as an organizer and as an elected official to police reform.
Any checklist he might have for his new chief would certainly include a plan to deal with police killings and other uses of force, a constant challenge in LA as it is in big cities. It will include, as it should, the ability to work with mental health professionals and peers on ways to deal with suspects who appear to have psychiatric or substance use issues. It must include the ability to command respect from, and communicate with, officials and the public.
But it should also include the desire that the next police chief has a plan to quickly respond to the trend of crime that comes at an ever-fast pace that is more than just agitating to return to the failed criminal justice policy.
The LAPD has a mixed record of recent responses and sometimes seems stuck in the past. For example, Moore complained repeatedly that the removal of bail for some crimes caused accused car thieves to be arrested, released and imprisoned again for the same crime several times a day. But the problem is never to remove the money guarantee. This is a separate issue: the unconditional release of suspects who show a propensity to reoffend. Law enforcement can hold suspects until trial even if there is no money bail.
LAPD officers also wrongly complained that a 2014 criminal justice reform measure, Proposition 47, decriminalized shoplifting and drug use, leaving them powerless to fight the problem. But that is wrong; The ballot measure is not there, and the police response, including arrests where appropriate, is still necessary.
In the case of the copper wire theft, the LAPD teamed up with other city departments to investigate and stop the thieves, with promising results. This shows that the department can respond quickly.
A good leader will direct the department to the solution, working with federal and foreign authorities to track and deny entry to thieves, with car manufacturers to secure catalytic converters and with online sales to stop the fence of stolen retail goods. A good chief will remind officers that misdemeanors remain crimes, subject to arrest, and that criminal justice reforms that reduce recidivism or provide non-prison solutions to crime problems improve, rather than undermine, law enforcement.
That approach to public safety requires forward-thinking leaders who understand that making policing more effective and public safety more collaborative is the best path forward.
