LAPD facing rise in violent suspects, hostage situations

''There are a lot of crazy people out there'' 

An observation that is sad, but true. 

That observation came from barber Daniel Tanner in downtown Los Angeles. His business sits just around the corner from – where earlier this month – the LAPD forced entry into an apartment and a SWAT team member shot and killed a violent gunman who had taken a random woman hostage. In addition to holding that woman hostage, the suspect was also holding a gun to her head, marking the latest of the several crimes he had allegedly committed that night.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Suspect killed after going on violent crime spree in downtown LA; hostage rescued

LAPD Chief Michel Moore told me Thursday that the violent suspect had a long criminal history and mental health issues. 

Moore and I talked via Zoom for about a half-hour about the five recent LAPD shootings. We discussed how four of the shooting involved hostage-takers and also spoke in general about the increase in police shootings, violent crimes, homicide, and also, attacks against law enforcement officers going up nationwide.     

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He says there are two main issues impacting the violence here in Southern California:

ZERO BAIL

Zero bail was the first issue Moore mentioned, where people arrested on violent crimes are booked, charged and then the courts let them out on zero bail only to have them victimize people again. 

In one recent incident, he says, a woman who shot someone on Skid Row was literally arrested the day before on a weapons charge, was out on zero bail, got another weapon, and shot someone else the next day.     

‘FAILURE’ IN MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM

Secondly, says Moore, is the ''breakdown'' and ''failure'' in our mental health system. '

'What troubles me is we continue to see gross inadequacies in mental health treatment. This doesn’t exist in medical help. Hospitals are all open… trauma centers are open... In the mental health area, even to get a short term bed for the days, under the so-called 5150 laws that allow police to detain someone for psychiatric evaluation, whose clearly a danger to themselves, or under 5250, allows us to give longer treatment... those systems are wholly inadequate.  This most recent spike in shootings is evidence of that."

Moore says shootings should always be a last resort for officers, but for those who question LAPD’s tactics, this is ''context.''

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