During the Palisades and Eaton fires, any Angeleno who turned on the news would be given something else to worry about: crime. We were bombarded with a 24/7 propaganda campaign about roving criminal gangs looting houses in the evacuation zone, a narrative that totally justifies the LAPD’s ballooning budget as the fire department’s dwindling budget is cut yet again.

According to Fox 11 on January 15, the cops claimed to have made 97 arrests relating to the fire including arson, burglary, looting, and vandalism, oh my! It’s not until now, thanks to LAist’s reporting, that we know they were full of shit.

According to the LAPD’s after-action report, 19 arrests were made, nineteen! Of which 4 were for entering a closed disaster area and 3 were for violating a state emergency; these were likely people returning to their houses to save valuables from the fire.

This is revealed as the LAPD shut down their crime map because they believe the data could be used to advocate for “misguided public policy decisions”.