Over the past two months, the Pomona Police Department held an operation in an area that starts at the East Holt Avenue corridor, from Garey Avenue, to Mills Avenue. The operation was also know as “The Blade”.
The Blade was intended to enhance law enforcement in the area in order to protect its citizens from danger, and to create a safer environment. The violations and offenses targeted included drinking alcohol in public, public intoxication, illegal possession of shopping carts, smoking in the parks, loitering in the parks after hours, trespassing, traffic laws, prostitution, possession of narcotics, and selling narcotics.
The Pomona PD decided to implement this operation because there were multiple violations that kept reoccurring around the corridor, and they wanted to end that trend.
The departments that were involved in addressing the offenders were the Pomona Police Department’s Traffic Bureau, Patrol Division, Crime Prevention Unit, K9 Unit, Detective Bureau, AB 109 Team, City of Pomona Code Enforcement team. They also included various outside agencies, including FBI’s Innocence Lost Task Force, Los Angeles County Probation, the LA County DA’s office, San Bernardino PD, West Covina PD, Claremont PD, Arcadia PD, the Department of Children’s Services and the non-profit organization The Dream Center. It was a collaborative effort to keep the environment safe and secure.
The operation ended up being a huge success, as there were a total of 193 arrests, 203 citations, and 69 field interview cards. Major crimes constituted of 78 of the 193 arrests. Out of those 78 arrests, 70 were from prostitution, 5 were gang related, and the 3 others were a result of an attempted murder.
The Pomona PD plans to continue installing these type of operations to further ensure the safety of it’s citizens.
Anyone with information about a crime in the area is encouraged to call the Pomona Police Department at (909) 622-1241.
