Crime Plunges Across LA County; Sheriff Says Jail 'Technically Safer' Than Streets
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - Crime is down significantly across Los Angeles County as a result of stay-at-home orders related to the coronavirus
pandemic, authorities said Monday.
Violent crime is down more than 9%, property crimes are down by over 15% and calls for service dropped 12% in what Sheriff Alex Villanueva described as "very large statistical shifts" during a briefing.
A total of 429 LASD employees are currently quarantined, 33 have tested positive and 230 have returned to work, according to Villanueva.
One of those is a custody deputy from the Men's Central Jail who is currently on a ventilator due to the coronavirus, Villanueva said.
A total of 676 county jail inmates have been quarantined, 11 have tested positive and 28 are under medical isolation, the sheriff announced.
"We've been working deliberately since the end of February putting
into place a plan that has slowly reduced the jail population, created
defensible space (to quarantine individuals)," Villanueva said. "Right now, it is technically safer inside our jail environment than it is on the streets."
Approximately a quarter of the county inmate population has been reduced to limit the spread of the virus.
