The LAPD has revealed it can’t properly track street gang crime because the department been banned from using an internal intelligence database after pressure from police reform campaigners.
Capt. Ahmad Zarekani, who is head of the LAPD Gang and Narcotics Division, said investigations into gang crime have been hamstrung since use of the CalGang database was blocked in 2020.
“By our own rules and ordinances, we’re not supposed to keep track of gang members,” Zarekani told the California Post.
“Now, we’re not allowed to track anyone by their gang association.”
CalGang contained the personal information of roughly 80,000 suspected gang members — all of which has now been lost to police.
California’s then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra ordered police departments across the state to stop using gang database on July 14, 2020, over claims officers had allegedly falsified gang affiliations.
The decision also came after sustained pressure by activists who were lobbying for police reform following the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Activist groups such as the left-wing Liberty Hill Foundation celebrated the end of the database, claiming it discriminated against black and Latino men, who made up 90% of its entries.
Bill Essayli, LA’s top federal prosecutor, said the move undermines local authorities, forcing the responsibility to fall to the federal justice system.
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Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
