LOS ANGELES — In South Los Angeles, crime is skyrocketing — a public safety issue that the Los Angeles Police Department is concerned about.

Homicides are up 46% within city limits compared to 2019, according to the LAPD, and the department attributes much of the rise in violence to gangs.

Michelle Ordaz works at All Peoples Community where most of the clients she helps are low-income minorities who are typically struggling through hard times.

While All Peoples Community helps individuals enroll in food services, it also offers a myriad of other programs in an effort to help strengthen the community. One of those programs address the root causes of gang involvement, crime and violence – issues that have always weighed heavy on Ordaz.

“Unfortunately, those are things that surround us, but they’re not right and I don’t want her [her daughter] to grow up like I did and think that’s something normal in South Los Angeles," Ordaz explained.

Ordaz grew up in the same neighborhood she works and lives in currently, but she remembers what it was like to nervously walk home from school as gang members looked for targets.

As a single mother raising an eight-year-old, she has serious concerns about her daughter’s safety. Bella, Ordaz’s daughter, is not even allowed to play in the front yard because of two random drive-by-shootings that left bullet holes through the mailbox and window a few months ago.

“This bullet entered through this window and went straight into my closet," Ordaz said.

She has no clue if the police caught the “bad guys," as Bella calls them and the third grader is starting to ask more questions.

“I’m scared," she said.

Bella has even come up with a plan, just in case. She knows all the best places to hide.

“We just practice so we know what to do," Bella showed.

LAPD Captain Alex Baez said they are trying to stop Bella’s generation from having to endure the same cycle. One of their strategies is moving the Newton Division's annual National Night Out event from a traditionally Hispanic church to a predominately-Black neighborhood.

It is an effort to be more inclusive and mend the conflicts the Black and Brown community has with each other and with police.

“We want our neighbors to get to know each other," he said. "No matter what culture, no matter what background, no matter where they come from, what languages they speak. As long as people get to know each other more, they’re less inclined to become victims or suspects of crimes.” 

Crimes that have skyrocketed this summer according to LAPD statistics released by Chief Michael Moore. The number of homicides that were not gang related jumped 137% from May to July and gang-related murders are up about 50% this year compared to 2019.

Gang prevention workers attribute this to the COVID shutdown and cuts to programs that were addressing rising tensions among the many gangs in this area.

The statistics are scary for the mother who said it is only a matter of time before innocent Bella is approached about joining these gangs, just like Ordaz was numerous times growing up.

“I know what my daughter is exposed to, but I also know that there’s other ways out. I grew up just fine so I believe that she can grow up fine too," she explained.

After all, if she can end up in a position helping the community, Ordaz knows she can raise her daughter to be the change, too.