Reporting from L.A.

March 8, 2010

Homicide in Hollenbeck

Posted: 08:56 PM ET

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Anderson Cooper
AC360° Anchor

Five years ago we spent months talking to police and gang members while reporting in the Hollenbeck division of Los Angeles. It’s a place where thousands of young men and women were – and still are – members of gangs.

There is a long history of gangs in Hollenbeck, some current gang members have grandfathers who were once involved in La Vida Loca, “the crazy life.” Since then, gang killings have dropped in Los Angeles, and we wanted to return to Hollenbeck to see what’s happening there now.

We tracked down some of the gang members we talked to five years ago, and re-connected with cops and social workers who are trying to reduce the strength of gangs in the neighborhood.

But even though killings are down, we found that the code of silence is still strong in Hollenbeck, and it’s letting people get away with murder.

Police can only do so much to solve crimes, they need citizens to come forward and report what they’ve seen and what they’ve heard. Too often that doesn’t happen in Hollenbeck.

Tonight we’ll show you a drive-by shooting, caught on tape, but months after the murder, it remains unsolved. A young man shot to death in front of his friends, but none of them will stand up and point a finger at the killer. Homicide in Hollenbeck starts tonight on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.