Mayor Karen Bass reduced the nightly curfew in downtown Los Angeles Monday, allowing struggling businesses to stay open later in the evening.
The mayor announced that the curfew began every night since 8pm last Tuesday and will now begin at 10pm. The curfew will continue to be lifted at 6 a.m.
“The curfew, coupled with ongoing crime prevention efforts, has been successful in protecting shops, restaurants, businesses and residential communities from bad actors who don’t care about immigrant communities,” Mayor Bass said in a press release.
Bass issued a curfew last week, following five days of chaos and sporadic violent protests in response to President Trump’s crackdown on immigration in Southern California. The curfew also responded to downtown shop robbery and damage to buildings including the Town Hall.
Bass said the curfew applies to downtown areas from Highway 5 to Highway 110, from Highway 10 to merge with Highway 110 and Highway 5.
The announcement of a reduced curfew time by Beth is due to the decline in arrests in the city over the past few days. Bass said reducing crime is part of her reduction in curfew time.
“This adjusted curfew reflects the progress we have made in crime and vandalism within the curfew area. That is, we will not let our guards down. LAPD will maintain a strong influence in the downtown area to ensure the safety of residents, businesses and demonstrators.”
LAPD said in a press release that LAPD has arrested a total of 575 people, including 14 robberies since the protests began on June 7.
Last Tuesday, the first day of the curfew was enacted, with 203 arrests for not dispersing and 17 arrested for violating the curfew.
Police said 35 people were arrested for breach of curfew on Saturday, while only one was arrested for failing to disperse.
LAPD said 10 police officers have been injured since the protests began.
