Los Angeles police on Sunday were questioning a man suspected of firing multiple rounds at an unmarked patrol car in the Westlake area west of downtown.
The two officers in the car were not injured, but it was the fifth time in 10 days that police have come under fire or been physically assaulted, said Officer Karen Rayner.
The incidents represent a disturbing trend in Los Angeles and nationally, according to police Chief Charlie Beck. Speaking to Patt Morrison on KPCC-FM (89.3) last week, Beck reported a 29% increase in violent attacks on Los Angeles police, with 125 so far this year.
In the latest incident, police responded to reports of a disturbance and a man with a gun near South Park View Street and West 2nd Street just after 1 a.m. Sunday. The unmarked car was patrolling the area when a suspect shouted at the officers and began firing.
The officers did not return fire but moved to a safe location, Rayner said. Police using canine units conducted an extensive search within a 12-block perimeter. About 6 a.m., one suspect was detained. He has not yet been booked, and the investigation was continuing, officials said.
On Aug. 25, an officer in the department’s 77th Street Division was wounded while investigating car burglaries in South Los Angeles. The wounded officer and a colleague had approached two pedestrians near 66th Street and Western Avenue when one pulled out a gun and began firing, police say.
The attack prompted a city-wide tactical alert and door-to-door searches; no arrests have been made.
Later that day, a man wielding a sharp cane attacked and stabbed an officer who had responded to calls of a disturbance at a Wilmington-area apartment just after 11 p.m. Police shot and killed the suspect, whose name has not been released. The wounded officer was expected to recover, officials said.
On Aug. 21 in Encino, Brent Zubek, who is suspected of killing a Chatsworth couple, shot at undercover officers as they attempted to arrest him, police said. No officers were injured.
In another incident on Aug. 19, a man who had been stopped for questioning by gang officers near Century Boulevard and Main Street in South L.A., pulled a gun and fired as he ran away. Again, no one was injured.
Officials are unsure why attacks on police have spiked, but their quicker response may be a factor.
"One of the things that's happened in Los Angeles is that police, because we've been able to reduce crime and because our information systems are better and our analysis of those are better, we make contact with a lot of people who are intent on committing violent crime and the means to do that," Beck said on KPCC. "When you engage people at the enforcement level at a greater frequency, then you increase the number of forceful contacts that you have."
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--Carla Rivera
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