Dozens arrested in Carson gang raid
The Los Angeles Police Department and federal agents arrested more than a dozen suspected gang members in Carson before dawn Thursday, authorities said.
“The acceptance of the street code of silence is over,” District Attorney Carmen Trutanich said.
Officers went into multiple neighborhoods in the Carson area of the L.A. Harbor at about 2 a.m. Multiple federal agencies were involved in the gang raid including the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The L.A. Harbor area has been under investigation by the LAPD for more than 2 years. Police have been looking into gangs that have been using the area as a center for illegal activities across the region. Carson is one location where many of the gangs have culminated.
“People in San Pedro don’t have to fear anymore,” Trutanich said. “They can walk their kids at night.”
“They can do what other communities in the city do.”
LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck said that gang sweeps reduce crime.
“Gang crime has been cut in half since 2005,” Beck said.
This is not the first recent gang sweep. Federal law enforcement targeted the Harbor-Gateway area in 2010 that resulted in more than 60 arrests. And that raid, too, came after multiple arrests in 2008 that specifically targeted street gangs in Wilmington.
