LAPD shifts about 200 officers to Hollywood as residents report increase in crime
By Rob Hayes
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HOLLYWOOD, California (KABC) — Hollywood may be known around the world as the entertainment capital, but locals see it as a place where violent crime often supersedes its glitzy reputation.
“I’m here as a resident, a concerned resident,” said Cathy Hood during a news conference held Wednesday morning in Hollywood. “I don’t feel 100% safe.”
Complaints like that have spurred the Los Angeles Police Department to add hundreds more officers to Hollywood in a force ramp-up that began seven months ago.
“That’s really basically about 200 more officers out on the street here on Hollywood Boulevard,” said LAPD Deputy Chief Blake Chow. “They’re going to be on foot, they’re going to be in patrol cars, they’re going to be on horseback, they’re going to be on bikes.”
Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell organized the anti-crime event and said criminals may have the perception that local prosecutors are not going after them, but adds that is not the case.
“If you come here to commit crime, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted, you will be jailed or imprisoned,” said O’Farrell. “There is no permissiveness in Hollywood. We’re not going to permit or tolerate that.
But just hours before Wednesday’s event and just a mile away, a street robbery turned into a shooting.
LAPD said a man was shot in the chest after an armed man demanded his phone and wallet near the intersection of N. Highland Avenue and Romaine Street.
The victim was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.
The shooter remains on the run.
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