Which Way, L.A.?
Which Way, L.A.?
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A Local Gang Crackdown Brings in the Feds

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Under various names, the Avenues Gang has controlled the Drew Street neighborhood in Northeast Los Angeles for generations. That’s where AK-47’s were used in a wild shoot out with the LAPD just last February. Today, 500 agents swept in to serve warrants that raised the ante. Tonight: can federal prosecution succeed where local and state enforcement has failed?

Main Topic

Major Crackdown on the Avenues Gang ()

In February a man was shot 17 times while protecting his 2-year old granddaughter.  She was unharmed.  But he was killed, and a wild shoot out took place among gang members, some using AK-47’s, and between gang members and the LAPD. It all came down in a Northeast Los Angeles neighborhood long dominated by the Drew Street clique of the Avenues Gang. Today, 500 local, state and federal officers swarmed in to serve warrants on 70 people charged with federal crimes.

Guests:
  • Sergio Diaz: Deputy Chief of the LAPD, Commanding Officer of Operation Central Bureau
  • Thomas O'Brien: United States Attorney in Los Angeles
  • Sam Quiñones: Reporter, Los Angeles Times; Author
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Making News

800 Fires ()

This weekend in Northern California, 8000 lightning strikes from an electrical storm set off more than 800 fires in less than a day. The so-called “dry lightning” brought little or no rain, and an army of firefighters is still trying to bring the blazes under control.

Guests:
  • Daniel Berlant: Information officer. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

Underwriters

Which Way L.A.? is made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, which supports study and research into policy issues of the Los Angeles region.

 

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