Police to Bolster Presence in Troubled Area
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PACOIMA — Responding to two recent gang-related shootings near Hubert H. Humphrey Memorial Park, Los Angeles officials said Tuesday they will install a police drop-in center on park grounds.
Police Chief Bernard Parks said the Police Department is seeking a gang injunction for the area, which may include a number of the most active nearby gangs, according to Councilman Alex Padilla.
In a letter Monday to Padilla, the lead proponent of a drop-in center and other programs for the park, the chief said the request for an injunction will be delivered to the city attorney’s office “in the immediate future.”
Police will increase their presence in the area, Padilla said, with 20 special anti-gang officers from the Metro Division moving to Pacoima as early as today. The councilman said the extra officers will stay “as long as it takes to restore order” around Humphrey Park and nearby hot spots.
Parks and others said the park has been relatively free of violence in recent years, but two nearby shootings this month have set the racially mixed, working-class neighborhood on edge.
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