Three years ago, in my very first column here at Pajamas Media, I wrote about the consequences that would result if federal and local authorities proceeded with implementing one provision of the consent decree under which the Los Angeles Police Department was operating. In a misguided effort to avert corruption, officers assigned to anti-gang and narcotics units were ordered to provide personal financial information so as to detect any among them who might be inordinately wealthy. I predicted many officers would balk at this intrusion and accept reassignment to other duties rather than submit to an examination of their private financial affairs.
With the March deadline for implementation of the policy coming near, we are witnessing the harvest. As reported by KABC News here in Los Angeles, many gang officers are indeed choosing to accept reassignment. In fact, at some of the LAPD’s 21 police stations, including some covering the most gang- and crime-plagued neighborhoods in the city, entire gang units have been or soon will be shut down for lack of officers willing to disclose their finances.
Crime has fallen steadily in Los Angeles for ten years, but this development may soon change that.
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