Assaults on Skid Row Police Officers Triple In Two Years
Rise Comes Even as Violent Crime in Area Falls

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Assaults on Central Division police officers have more than tripled in the past two years. The rise, from 12 incidents in 2006 and 28 in 2007 to 39 so far this year, comes at the same time that violent crime in the neighborhood has dropped precipitously.

The increase is perhaps an unexpected result of the Safer Cities Initiative, a high-profile policing effort that began in September 2006 and that has otherwise unfolded largely as the department planned. The move, championed by LAPD Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, deployed 50 additional officers to Skid Row and has resulted in a crackdown not only on violent crime, but on misdemeanor offenses such as jaywalking and littering.

But Bratton said the 39 assaults on officers this year is not necessarily a surprise."We have more police down there and, two, they're focused much more aggressively," Bratton said. "The expectation is when you increase pressure on an area, there is that potential."

Violent crime in Skid Row fell by 24% in 2007 and has decreased by another 4% this year, according to LAPD statistics. But Lt. Paul Vernon, commanding officer in the Central Division, said that as violent crime has dropped, due in part to more repeat offenders being arrested and incarcerated, the criminals who remain in Skid Row are more aggressive and prone to resisting arrest.

"As the demographics in Skid Row change and the criminal element finds it less advantageous to come down here because of enforcement, those that do come down here don't know the rules, are unfamiliar with the level of enforcement or are just more apt to want to challenge the police," Vernon said. "It's concerning only because it reflects what officers face everyday."