Dozens of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies and Los Angeles Police Department officers saturated the area surrounding the North Hollywood Metro Red Line Station Thursday, an operation that is part of the departments' three-month plan to deter crime in the area by increasing their visual presence.
Criminals have been using the station as a quick getaway after committing a robbery or theft, which makes it a problem area lately for police.
Thursday's deployment saw the LASD set up its mobile command post at the Orange Line Station on Lankershim Boulevard, which is across the street from the Red Line Station, and included many deputies on horseback.
"This operation brought in several horses from our Mounted Patrol Unit. In the past we have not used them (in NoHo), but only because they are not always available. But it's another resource we count on," said Sgt. Carlos Jaen of the LASD. "We also have uniformed deputies. We have plain-clothes deputies. We also have some detectives and investigators. We have Homeland Security, we have the Threat Interdiction unit out here. We have members of the Special Problem Unit. We have the Crime Impact Team here. So we have a variety of resources here from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, along with the LAPD - they have their narcotics detectives out here. So it's a team effort to make this a better place."
On April 26, the LAPD North Hollywood Division held its first , where a routine shift change that typically occurs at the station was moved to in front of the Red Line stop, all in effort to increase the police presence in the area and show would-be criminals that "this is our turf," as LAPD Capt. Peter Whittingham put it.
