Mayor Karen Bass reduced the hours that a nightly curfew in downtown Los Angeles is in effect on Monday, allowing struggling businesses to remain open later into the evening.
The curfew, which has begun every night since last Tuesday at 8 p.m., will now begin at 10 p.m., the mayor announced. The curfew will continue to lift at 6 a.m.
“The curfew, coupled with ongoing crime prevention efforts, have been largely successful in protecting stores, restaurants, businesses and residential communities from bad actors who do not care about the immigrant community,” Mayor Bass said in a press release.
Bass enacted the curfew last week following five days of chaotic and sporadically violent protests that came in response to President Trump’s immigration crackdown in Southern California. The curfew also came in response to the looting of stores in downtown as well as the vandalism of buildings including City Hall.
The curfew applies to the area of downtown from the 5 Freeway to the 110 Freeway and from the 10 Freeway to where the 110 Freeway and the 5 Freeway merge, Bass said.
Bass’ announcement of the reduced hours of curfew comes as arrests have dropped in downtown over the past few days. Bass said reduced crime is part of why she reduced the curfew hours.
“This adjusted curfew reflects the progress we’ve made in reducing crime and vandalism within the curfew zone. That said, we’re not letting our guard down. The LAPD will maintain a strong presence in the downtown area to ensure the safety of residents, businesses, and demonstrators alike,” said LAPD Chief of Police Jim McDonnell.
The LAPD has arrested 575 people in total since protests began on June 7, including 14 people for looting, the LAPD said in a press release.
Last Tuesday, the first day the curfew was enacted, 203 people were arrested for failure to disperse and 17 were arrested for violating the curfew.
On Saturday, 35 were arrested for violating curfew, while just one person was arrested for failure to disperse, police said.
Since protests began, 10 police officers have been injured, the LAPD said.
