Los Angeles District Attorney (DA) George Gascón launched a program last week to shuttle employees—who work in his office and are assigned to downtown’s Civic Center area—to and from their cars amid a string of public safety incidents, according to an internal memo from his office reviewed by The Epoch Times.
“Security incidents involving aggressive confrontations initiated by members of the public have occurred to our employees assigned in the Civic Center area, while walking between their vehicles or transportation area and the office,” the memo read regarding the new program.
The shuttle will be run by the district attorney’s Bureau of Investigation and in effect until another form of transportation can be made available to employees. Seven-seat white minivans will take workers between Union Station and a parking lot in Chinatown every weekday between 6:20 a.m. to 8:20 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Gascón’s office did not respond to a request for comment, but the move comes as the DA faces heightened pressure from some prosecutors who say his progressive policies have led to an increase in crime.
“The problem is worse nowadays, because of the sheer number of drug addicted or mentally disturbed, homeless that are everywhere, including the Civic Center,” former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley told The Epoch Times. “That, I think, has made conditions worse.”
It’s unclear how much the new program will cost.
Over the last few years, the Civic Center has been a hot spot for crime, and in 2019, the Los Angeles Police Department beefed up its patrol presence after city employees said they didn’t feel safe in the area.
According to the police department’s crime mapping data for the last six months, there were reportedly 90 assaults, 87 vehicle thefts, 26 robberies, and 35 car break-ins in the Civic Center area.
