A complex mix of gangs, violence and poverty in the crowded Pico-Union and Westlake districts makes policing there an unmatched challenge. There is a widening investigation of other suspected shootings, as well as allegations that police ripped off neighborhood drug dealers for profit. But others report long-standing troubles with Rampart police, including random stops and confrontations over minor offenses that they say escalate into beatings and detention. The eight square miles assigned to the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division has one of the state's highest concentrations of Latino immigrants, according to U.S. census data. The neighborhoods policed by Rampart officers are the city's densest, marked by blocks of deteriorating apartments and storefronts, where drug dealers and fruit vendors often peddle their wares on the same crowded sidewalks.
Residents say they often feel they are walking a gantlet.
As night falls, nannies, construction workers and gardeners trudge home from bus stops. They step carefully around drug punks who have converted MacArthur Park into a narcotics supermarket. They avoid eye contact with gang members who collect rent from pushers and shoot one another over trifles. Mexican-born Police Sgt. Rick Arteaga said many officers feel compassion for hard-working immigrants but must balance it with their duties.