In announcing arrests in a recent rash of brazen “flash mob style” smash-and-grab robberies, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore and Mayor Eric Garcetti on Thursday called for ending the county’s $0 bail policy.
The calls came as officials were announcing 14 arrests from 11 incidents that happened between Nov. 18 and 28 and resulted in nearly $340,000 worth of merchandise being stolen, including from the Nordstrom at The Grove, a Lululemon in Studio City, a Fairfax district store and a CVS pharmacy in South L.A.
Officials said all the suspects arrested were already out of police custody. Some were bailed out, others fit the zero bail criteria and one is a juvenile, according to LAPD.
The zero bail policy applies to misdemeanors and lower-level felonies and is meant to reduce crowding at L.A. County jails during the pandemic.
“As we evolved through this, there’s criminal elements that are recognizing that condition, and are capitalizing on it,” Moore said during a Thursday news conference.
Officials are concerned about those being let out from behind bars becoming repeat offenders as they await their arraignments.
Moore pointed to a robbery at a Nordstrom’s that involved smashed windows and a caravan of cars fleeing the location, triggering a “lengthy and dangerous pursuit” that ended with the arrests of three people.
Two of them had criminal histories, Moore said.
“Zero bail poses a challenge when their next court appearance is in March,” he added. --->READ MORE HERE
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| Keith Birmingham/MNG/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images |
Fourteen suspects were finally nabbed by Los Angeles police in connection to 11 recent “smash-and-grab” robberies causing upward of $340,000 in stolen merchandise and damages. However, due to the area’s “zero bail” policy, all 14 suspects have been released.
According to the Daily Mail, Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti had a change of tune over the “zero bail” policy, tying the approach entirely to COVID and calling for its end.
“We need the help of our criminal justice system, of our judges, of our jailers,” Garcetti said during the presser, standing alongside Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore.
“We have opened up a lot of the city because we’re in a better place with COVID,” the Democrat added. “We should be able to also open up our jails, and we should be able to have judges that put people behind those bars.”
According to the report, a statewide policy of imposing $0 bail for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies was put to an end in Democrat-run California last year, “but it was kept in place within the LA County Superior Court system.”
“You could be arrested for a crime such as burglary, a serious felony… and that’s zero bail, meaning that we book and process and identify you, and then your arraignment day is three to four months from now,” said LAPD Chief Moore. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to related stories:
LA cops arrest 14 suspects in connection with 11 smash-and-grab robberies - but release ALL of them because of California's 'zero bail' policy
14 arrested for LA smash-and-grab robberies all released on zero-bail policies
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