Operation Cul-de-Sac (OCDS) was a

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

effort to reduce violent crime, particularly

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...

s by

gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

s. It consisted of installing concrete barriers, later iron fencing, to block fourteen residential streets to vehicle traffic. During the two years it was in effect, it substantially reduced violent crime.

History

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, the

(LAPD) noticed that gang violence was higher in some neighborhoods. LAPD hypothesized that this was related to rival gang fighting for territory to sell drugs. They determined that 80–90% of

s occurred on streets near the edge of the community, which offered a quicker escape due to proximity to major roads and highways. LAPD targeted fourteen of these streets near traffic arteries, installing permanent vehicle barriers beginning in February 1990. The barriers were initially concrete, but were replaced by iron gates that could be unlocked for emergency access. All the barriers were in an area of about near

Jefferson High School This is a list of memorials to Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States and the author of the United States Declaration of Independence. Buildings Elementary schools *Jefferson Elementary School, in Cammack Village, Arkansas *Thoma ...

. In addition to vehicle barriers, ten officers patrolled the area on bicycles. Funding for the project was reduced in 1991, and OCDS ended in December 1991. By 1992, most of the iron gates were damaged to the point that they no longer stopped vehicle traffic.

Effects and reception

OCDS dramatically lowered assault and homicides, resulting in a 20% reduction in 1990 and 14% reduction in 1991 compared to levels in 1989. There was no clear evidence of

crime displacement Crime displacement is the relocation of crime (or criminals) as a result of police crime-prevention efforts. Crime displacement has been linked to problem-oriented policing, but it may occur at other levels and for other reasons. Community-develop ...

, meaning OCDS prevented crime rather than shifting it to other neighborhoods. After the removal of the barriers, violent crime rates rose to their previous levels. OCDS also had a positive effect on

truancy Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorised, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will (though sometimes adults or parents will allow and/or ignore it) and usually does not refe ...

, increasing attendance at Jefferson High School by around 200 students daily. In 1991, the ''

Los Angeles Sentinel The ''Los Angeles Sentinel'' is a weekly African-American owned newspaper published in Los Angeles, California. The paper boasts of reaching 125,000 readers , making it one of the oldest, largest and most influential African-American newspapers ...

'' published a commentary that was critical of OCDS, saying that it existed, in part, to create a network of

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...

s, and that "virtually any part of life behind the walls will be subject to invasion, involvement, and control by the LAPD."

References

{{reflist Los Angeles Police Department History of Los Angeles Crime prevention Law enforcement operations in the United States

History

Effects and reception

See also

References