Karen Bass Backs 28-Arrest Skid Row Drug Sweep as Policing Jolts L.A. Mayor's Race
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 11
Karen Bass Backs 28-Arrest Skid Row Drug Sweep as Policing Jolts L.A. Mayor's Race
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 11
Summary
Karen Bass used a Skid Row drug crackdown to sharpen her public-safety message, appearing with the police chief days after challenger Nithya Raman said she would replace him if elected.
Public safety has become an unexpected fault line in Los Angeles despite one of the city's lowest homicide rates since the 1960s, shifting the race onto 911 wait times, policing and 2028 Olympics security.
The sweep Bass praised followed October 8 raids under "Operation Save Skid Row," when federal and city authorities served 28 arrest warrants and 44 search warrants targeting open-air drug markets.
The clash also tests how far blue-on-blue politics can scramble crime debates in liberal Los Angeles, with a Democrat and a democratic socialist taking divergent positions on police.