Police descended on Los Angeles’ notoriously drug-infested MacArthur Park on Tuesday — sending users scurrying as ongoing sweeps have helped beat back the longtime scourge of crime in the area.
The Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division, known for tackling more crime in a smaller area than almost anywhere in the city, has begun foot patrols in the park in an effort to complete a final cleanup of the green space.
Commanding Officer Capt. Ben Fernandes said police and federal officers have dealt a severe blow to drug dealing at MacArthur, cleaning up the violent, open-air narcotics market that once teemed with junkies hunting for a high.
Now cops are going after what remains: dozens of users and low-level dealers who still populate the park, Fernandes said.
“They’re zombies, walking around aimlessly, just trying to get a fix,” he said. “We need to break the cycle.”
The California Post was there Monday morning as LAPD officers in teams of nine patrolled the space, quickly arresting one woman smoking fentanyl from a piece of tin foil who was so disoriented that she didn’t see the cops coming. Officers placed her in handcuffs as they discovered a pipe for smoking meth and a container used for holding fentanyl.
“She gave us four names, and she’s got a warrant for five grand,” one officer said. “It’s time for her to see a judge.”
As the foot patrol continued on the north side of the park, officers encountered only residents walking their dogs and resting on the grass.
Cops encountered more action on the south side of MacArthur, as a wave of users and small-time dealers scurried away from officers as they approached. A homeless man left behind in the rush asked for a referral to a shelter, which police provided.
With the addicts gone, an elderly woman sat down on a bench to read a book.
“That’s exactly what we’re trying to do,” Fernades said. “Clean up the park so that residents can use it.”
More than a century old and originally conceived as LA version of the Champs-Élysées, MacArthur Park fell on hard times in the 1980s as dealers and gangs moved in, with as many as 30 murders occurring there in 1990.
The awful conditions took a turn for the worse as deadly fentanyl and crystal meth moved in, fueling throngs of drug-addles zombies and a human-trafficking trade orchestrated by gang kingpins who enforced their reign with ruthless violence.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, federal prosecutor Bill Essayli and LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman this year joined forces to tackle the problem, with takedowns of the Mexican Mafia and local drug distribution.
Next, Operation Free MacArthur Park brought in throngs of LAPD cops to arrest local dealers.
The Rampart Division’s foot patrols are aiming to clean up the rest.
Norm Langer, owner of legendary Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant next to MacArthur, told The Post he believes the park’s transformation is about 70% complete.
“I want the park taken back for the families and children in the area,” Langer said. “We’ve gotten rid of a lot of the gangs; we’ve gotten a lot of the drugs of the street. And we still have work to do.”
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