Every department in the city is working to address this summer’s spike in violence and keep the community safe, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said Friday in his first formal statement about the recent rise in crime.
In June, police responded to 18 shootings and five killings, and so far this month there have been five shootings and two stabbing deaths. The most recent shooting occurred near Poly High on Thursday night, when a man was shot in the back in what police believe was a gang-related attack.
Police officials held a public meeting earlier this week with ministers concerned about the violence, and now the city’s police and fire personnel are working together with several other departments, as well as with community partners, neighborhood organizations, nonprofit groups and other government agencies to quell the violence.
“We are very concerned about a recent spike in violent assaults,” Police Chief Robert Luna in a joint statement with the mayor. “We are working closely with city departments on a public safety initiative and increasing our efforts to enhance partnerships within the community. Keeping our city safe is everyone’s responsibility, and I look forward to working together to make an impact on crime.”
Cmdr. Robert Luman, in an interview Friday, pleaded with the public to come forward without fear of retaliation if they witness a crime or see suspicious activity.
“We’re not in the business of getting people hurt,” he said. “People are getting [better] about calling us, but we’re still seeing a lot of people that don’t want to get involved.”
Nonprofit groups are also calling for the city’s residents to take a role in taking back their communities. Christine Petit, a hub manager at Building Healthy Communities: Long Beach, said the community needs to create connections.
“Addressing community violence is complex and isn’t something we can simply police our way out of,” she said. “We need to address the root causes of violence, including high rates of unemployment, youth who are being pushed out of school and a lack of opportunities for many in our community.”
Statistics show killings are actually down for January to May of this year compared with 2014. Police don’t have comparable statistics from June to the present, but acknowledge there has been a spate of violence.
Fears among some in the community were heightened after social media threats indicated African-Americans, Asians and women would be targeted by a particular gang in the city. Police have said repeatedly there is no validity to those threats.
Luman did say Friday it is too early to tell whether the recent violence is indeed motivated by gang activity, saying there has been no specific pattern to the recent shootings, he said.
Most of the slayings have occurred in the downtown and Central Long Beach areas.
Kat Placencia lives in a building near the scene of Thursday night’s shooting on Cerritos Avenue. She moved in to the neighborhood a little less than a year ago from East Los Angeles.
She said she had only been home for about a minute before she heard shots ring out.
“To be honest it’s terrible here,” Placencia said. “East L.A. was quiet. You could walk outside at night. Here I have to be inside before 10 p.m. Parents need to be out. You gotta watch your kids.”
Contact Greg Yee at 562-499-1476.
