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Murders in L.A.

Aired November 29, 2002 - 10:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Residents in South Los Angeles are living in fear this morning with their community a virtual war zone. There have been 600 homicides in Los Angeles so far this year, but half of those in just one neighborhood, South Central Los Angeles. There have been 20 killings just in the past couple of weeks alone. Police are challenging the neighborhood to help them catch the killers.
And Megan Garvey is a staff writer for "The Los Angeles Times" covering the story.

Good morning, Megan.

MEGAN GARVEY, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Good morning, Carol.

LIN: How do you explain the number of killings recently?

GARVEY: I think it is difficult to explain. Police believe that it's a combination of factors. Part of it is, you know, sort of traditional battles between different gangs and even battles within gangs. Some of it is the fact that a number of young men are trying to prove themselves, a new generation of gang members in Los Angeles. And police say it is also possible that some men who have recently gotten out of prison are causing trouble in these neighborhoods.

LIN: So you think it is attributed to the gang war then?

GARVEY: Well, they're not really calling it a gang war, not in the sense that we think of gangs as being at war, not over necessarily over narcotics or drugs. Our new police chief here, our new police chief, Bill Bratton, said that he thinks it is just a disregard for the sanctity of human life, that people will really shoot at each other for very little reason at all.

LIN: Now, it's one thing when it is gang on gang, but some of the victims are completely innocent standbyers, like the basketball player from Crenshaw High School.

GARVEY: There have been a number of people who have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was a young father who came home in East L.A. about a week ago, who was coming home with his wife and young children and was caught in the crossfire and killed. And that is a man who had moved to that neighborhood in order to escape violence in another neighborhood.

LIN: So, the new police chief here, Chief Bratton, coming in and challenging these communities to help them fight against this kind of crime. I mean, traditionally, there has been a lot of tension between police residents in places like South Los Angeles and South Central Los Angeles. How -- what kind of a response are police getting today?

GARVEY: Well, the tradition, the history here in Los Angeles, where there have been riots, where there's been a lot of anger, where there's been allegations and proof of police brutality and racism, it is difficult to go into those communities and ask for their help. But the reality is that those communities want -- they want to be safe. So they are willing to try to help. The police chief went down last week to South Los Angeles, spoke at a number of churches and he seemed to get a good response, I think people want to try to contribute within certain parameters. They don't want the police to be brutal. They don't want the police to be indiscriminate. And he's promised that that's not how his force will act.

LIN: You know, so I am wondering how you see this police administration different than when Darryl Gates. Police Chief Darryl Gates, was running the streets, when he formed these special task forces, these gang units that had almost unlimited power in these neighborhoods. And they used to go in and do these big pr sweeps and round up people by the hundreds, only they would be released the next day. It seemed more for show than it did for actual results.

GARVEY: Well, Chief Bratton has talked specifically about that type of policing, and it is something that he says he doesn't believe in. He does not believe it leads to long-term solution, that he could go in there with hundreds of police officers and he could arrest everyone in sight who spit on the sidewalk, but he doesn't believe that's going to solve the problem of violence in those neighborhoods. So it really is a balance between making people in those neighborhoods believe that the police care, that the police will be a presence and not overstepping those boundaries. And that's where the chief is trying to find sort of a happy medium right now.

LIN: Right. And a lot is at stake because the rest of the nation may think of South Central Los Angeles as a gang-infested territory, but it's really -- so many parts of it are lovely, middle- class, working class black community, really just trying to make ends meet and get along.

GARVEY: Very many different kinds of people in South Los Angeles. Some of the neighborhoods very affluent, very lovely, anyone would want to live there. And I think that the people there have just had enough. You know, the chief asked Los Angeles to get angry on behalf of that neighborhood. Everyone he said, you know, you might live in Brentwood, but you're wrong if you think that these killings do not affect your life or the perception of Los Angeles.

LIN: Right, right. That's what makes this interesting, you know, that very complex story. Thank you very much, Megan Garvey with "The Los Angeles Times.".

GARVEY: Thank you, Carol.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 29, 2002 - 10:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Residents in South Los Angeles are living in fear this morning with their community a virtual war zone. There have been 600 homicides in Los Angeles so far this year, but half of those in just one neighborhood, South Central Los Angeles. There have been 20 killings just in the past couple of weeks alone. Police are challenging the neighborhood to help them catch the killers.
And Megan Garvey is a staff writer for "The Los Angeles Times" covering the story.

Good morning, Megan.

MEGAN GARVEY, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Good morning, Carol.

LIN: How do you explain the number of killings recently?

GARVEY: I think it is difficult to explain. Police believe that it's a combination of factors. Part of it is, you know, sort of traditional battles between different gangs and even battles within gangs. Some of it is the fact that a number of young men are trying to prove themselves, a new generation of gang members in Los Angeles. And police say it is also possible that some men who have recently gotten out of prison are causing trouble in these neighborhoods.

LIN: So you think it is attributed to the gang war then?

GARVEY: Well, they're not really calling it a gang war, not in the sense that we think of gangs as being at war, not over necessarily over narcotics or drugs. Our new police chief here, our new police chief, Bill Bratton, said that he thinks it is just a disregard for the sanctity of human life, that people will really shoot at each other for very little reason at all.

LIN: Now, it's one thing when it is gang on gang, but some of the victims are completely innocent standbyers, like the basketball player from Crenshaw High School.

GARVEY: There have been a number of people who have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was a young father who came home in East L.A. about a week ago, who was coming home with his wife and young children and was caught in the crossfire and killed. And that is a man who had moved to that neighborhood in order to escape violence in another neighborhood.

LIN: So, the new police chief here, Chief Bratton, coming in and challenging these communities to help them fight against this kind of crime. I mean, traditionally, there has been a lot of tension between police residents in places like South Los Angeles and South Central Los Angeles. How -- what kind of a response are police getting today?

GARVEY: Well, the tradition, the history here in Los Angeles, where there have been riots, where there's been a lot of anger, where there's been allegations and proof of police brutality and racism, it is difficult to go into those communities and ask for their help. But the reality is that those communities want -- they want to be safe. So they are willing to try to help. The police chief went down last week to South Los Angeles, spoke at a number of churches and he seemed to get a good response, I think people want to try to contribute within certain parameters. They don't want the police to be brutal. They don't want the police to be indiscriminate. And he's promised that that's not how his force will act.

LIN: You know, so I am wondering how you see this police administration different than when Darryl Gates. Police Chief Darryl Gates, was running the streets, when he formed these special task forces, these gang units that had almost unlimited power in these neighborhoods. And they used to go in and do these big pr sweeps and round up people by the hundreds, only they would be released the next day. It seemed more for show than it did for actual results.

GARVEY: Well, Chief Bratton has talked specifically about that type of policing, and it is something that he says he doesn't believe in. He does not believe it leads to long-term solution, that he could go in there with hundreds of police officers and he could arrest everyone in sight who spit on the sidewalk, but he doesn't believe that's going to solve the problem of violence in those neighborhoods. So it really is a balance between making people in those neighborhoods believe that the police care, that the police will be a presence and not overstepping those boundaries. And that's where the chief is trying to find sort of a happy medium right now.

LIN: Right. And a lot is at stake because the rest of the nation may think of South Central Los Angeles as a gang-infested territory, but it's really -- so many parts of it are lovely, middle- class, working class black community, really just trying to make ends meet and get along.

GARVEY: Very many different kinds of people in South Los Angeles. Some of the neighborhoods very affluent, very lovely, anyone would want to live there. And I think that the people there have just had enough. You know, the chief asked Los Angeles to get angry on behalf of that neighborhood. Everyone he said, you know, you might live in Brentwood, but you're wrong if you think that these killings do not affect your life or the perception of Los Angeles.

LIN: Right, right. That's what makes this interesting, you know, that very complex story. Thank you very much, Megan Garvey with "The Los Angeles Times.".

GARVEY: Thank you, Carol.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com