Studies link income inequality and crime. Just look to L.A., where thousands are homeless, and people get robbed of watches worth enough to buy a home.
The 17 gangs, mostly from South L.A., that, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, have been dispatching crews to target and rob wealthy Angelenos, following them from high-end hotels, restaurants and clubs, snatching their watches and purses.
The executive director of L.A.’s Urban Peace Institute, Fernando Rejón, winced a bit too. But for somewhat deeper reasons. And then there are the people who go after those in wealthy neighborhoods. “You know,” he acknowledged, “people become targets.”“There is a sizable body of research that finds a positive relationship between income inequality and crime,” said Magnus Lofstrom, policy director of criminal justice and a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.