LAPD Checks on Parole, Probation and Sex Offenders in Highland Park

Los Angeles Police Department officers from the Northeast Division led a surprise compliance check for parole, probation and sex offenders Thursday morning in Highland Park, arresting five people in as many as 50 locations.

The sweep, known as the L.A. Saves Probation-Parole Task Force operation, was conducted within a one-mile radius of Franklin High School and was aimed at determining if people who are on parole, probation or are registered sex offenders are in compliance with certain laws, LAPD Capt. Jeffrey Bert, commander of the Northeast Division, told Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch.

“People were asking why the LAPD has officers with guns outside high schools,” Bert said. “What we’re doing is allowing people to have safe passage to schools.”

LAPD officers were accompanied by L.A. County probation officers as well as state parole officers and officials from the Department of Children and Family Services, Bert said.

The sweep, which began at 5 a.m., was not connected to Tuesday’s murder of a gang member on Benner Street, Bert said, adding that every division of the LAPD conducts L.A. Saves taskforce sweeps at least once a year.