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Los Angeles Police Department detective Jamie McBride advised tourists not to come to the city because he considers it unsafe.
“My message to anyone thinking about coming to Los Angeles, especially during the holiday season, is don’t,” Jamie McBride said, as quoted by the CBS.
According to him, a "zero bail" policy has reduced sentencing for various nonviolent crimes.
“We can’t guarantee your safety. It is really, really out of control. I said it to people before, it’s like that movie ‘Purge’, you know, instead of 24 hours to commit your crime, these people have 365 days to commit whatever they want,” McBride added.
Moreover, Jamie McBride criticised California Governor Gavin Newsom, arguing he "needs to be gone", amid the crime surge.
McBride believes that the rise in crime in California was prompted by a local law passed in 2014, according to which the theft of less than $950 was recognised as a crime of low public danger, that is, the punishment for such theft does not involve imprisonment.
Last week, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki blamed a recent spate of robberies on the COVID-19 pandemic.
In November, a mob of at least 20 looters committed a burglary at a Nordstrom luxury department store in Los Angeles. Another Nordstrom store located in a San Francisco suburb was robbed by about 80 thieves several day earlier.