Chaos in the Los Angeles Rail Yards

It’s amazing to see how much damage one radical leftist district attorney can cause. The man in question today, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon. It is not just about violent street crime. It is not just home invasions. It is not just people who walk into stores and shoot the staff. It also involves prosecuting those who are looting and pillage train cars around Los Angeles.

Gascon is not doing it, so the looting continues. If you were worrying about supply chain problems, and asking why goods are not being delivered, it is not just about the government’s failure to automate the ports and its environmental regulations. Far too much of what makes it onto trains gets looted by criminal gangs. 

The Los Angeles Times describes the scene:

The scene was a stretch of railroad tracks in Lincoln Heights on Saturday: A blizzard of torn plastic wrappers, cardboard boxes and paper packaging attesting to a wave of rail car thievery that officials say has been on the rise in recent months.

Several scavengers picked through the debris, hoping to find electronics, clothes or whatever valuables thieves left behind.

“Everything comes on the train — cellphones, Louis Vuitton purses, designer clothes, toys, lawnmowers, power equipment, power tools,” said a 37-year-old man who declined to give his name. He said he comes to the tracks regularly and once found a Louis Vuitton purse and a robotic arm worth five figures: “We find things here and there, make some money off of it.”

Thieves are pilfering railroad cars in a crime that harks back to the days of horseback-riding bandits, but is fueled by a host of modern realities, including the rise of e-commerce and Southern California’s role as a hub for the movement of goods.

So, America’s economic activity is being undermined by a district attorney who does not prosecute crime. Doubtless, he believes that it’s all reparations. As you might imagine, the result will be that freight carriers, whether trucks or trains will move operations out of Los Angeles. Doubtless it will damage the local economy. People like Gascon simply do not care. Theirs is a radical agenda that simply wants to punish white people.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handle about 40% of the nation’s maritime imports. The majority of the nearly $450 billion in goods moved at the ports eventually lands on a train.

The most important document in the debate is a letter sent by Union Pacific railroad to George Gascon. The letter was sent one month ago. As the pictures and the stories show, nothing has been done. In truth, Gascon has merely shifted blame to the railroad.

Union Pacific director of public affairs, Adrian Guerrero offered some facts:

Since December 2020, UP has experienced an over 160% increase in criminal rail theft in Los Angeles County. In several months during that period, the increase from the previous year surpassed 200%. In October 2021 alone, the increase was 356% over compared to October 2020. Not only do these dramatic increases represent retail product thefts – they include increased assaults and armed robberies of UP employees performing their duties moving trains. Specifically, just over the past three months of intermodal peak season in preparation for holiday shopping, UP has had the following experience in Los Angeles County: 

On average, over 90 containers compromised per day. 

Where is law enforcement? Glad you asked. 

In partnership with Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD), and California Highway Patrol (CHP) we estimate over 100 arrests have been made of active criminals vandalizing our trains. UP alone making several dozens of arrests. 

With our law enforcement partners we have deterred hundreds of individuals from trespassing and vandalizing our trains. 

The problem does not lie with law enforcement or with the railroad's security measures. The problems lies with a failure to prosecute:

 Of all those arrests, however, UP has not been contacted for any court proceedings. This increased criminal activity over the past twelve months accounts for approximately $5 million in claims, losses and damages to UP. And that value does not include respective losses to our impacted customers. Nor does it capture the larger operating or commercial impacts to the UP network or supply chain system in Los Angeles County.

The railroad has greatly increased its own security measures. This has added to police protection. And yet, the county fails to prosecute, so the criminals go back to being criminals. And obviously, there is no deterrent:

We have also utilized and are further exploring the use of additional technologies to help us combat these criminals through drones, specialized fencing, trespass detection systems, and other measures. But even with these expanded resources and closer partnerships with local law enforcement, we find ourselves coming back to the same results with the Los Angeles County criminal justice system. Criminals are caught and arrested, turned over to local authorities for booking, arraigned before the local courts, charges are reduced to a misdemeanor or petty offense, and the criminal is released after paying a nominal fine. These individuals are generally caught and released back onto the streets in less than twenty-four hours. Even with all the arrests made, the no-cash bail policy and extended timeframe for suspects to appear in court is causing re-victimization to UP by these same criminals. In fact, criminals boast to our officers that charges will be pled down to simple trespassing – which bears no serious consequence. 

The result: criminal rail theft is causing companies to relocate operations:

Without any judicial deterrence or consequence, it is no surprise that over the past year UP has witnessed the significant increase in criminal rail theft described above. As a result of Los Angeles County’s rail theft crisis, customers like UPS and FedEx that utilize our essential rail service during peak holiday season are now seeking to divert rail business away to other areas in the hope of avoiding the organized and opportunistic criminal theft that has impacted their own business and customers. 

Like our customers, UP is now contemplating serious changes to our operating plans to avoid Los Angeles County. We do not take this effort lightly, particularly during the supply chain crisis, as this drastic change to our operations will create significant impacts and strains throughout the local, state, and national supply chain systems.

Guess what, one knows that a George Gascon does not care. With any luck he will be recalled.