L.A. council set to ban homicide for 40 hours

Los Angeles City Council members -- who in the past have tried with mixed results to ban gas-powered leaf blowers from backyards, lap dances from strip clubs and fast food restaurants from South Los Angeles -- plan to vote today on a 40-hour moratorium on homicide, a symbolic gesture that comes as the city has seen an uptick in killings in recent months.

If it passes, the ban would begin on Friday at 6:01 p.m. to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the assassination of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.

The ban, which would also apply to other forms of violence, was proposed by Los Angeles author and political commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson, who was so alarmed by the city's recent spike in gun violence that he urged its elected leaders to make a bold statement.

"It's an educational vehicle to drive home the point that we're losing too many lives," said Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable. "If this works, then the next logical thing is: if a city like Los Angeles can go 40 hours without one homicide, then why not 40 days?"

Hutchinson hopes the nonbinding resolution will also secure the backing of the Los Angeles Unified School District board of education, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the state legislature. Still, some say the council should focus on more substantive solutions to the city's homicide rate -- and not waste time on symbolic gestures.

"I'm sure that the people who are doing the killing will hear that the council is calling for a moratorium and then cease and desist," said a sarcastic Joe Hicks, who once served as executive director of the city's Human Relations Commission. "It's more silliness from our wonderful City Council."

The council voted only a few months ago on a symbolic ban on the use of the "N" word, sparking a vigorous debate on the council floor.

If approved by the council, the ban would go into effect on Friday and end Sunday, spanning the weekend hours that are the most frequent time for killing in Los Angeles.

And it would come after an especially violent three-month period, one that has seen killings increase 32% by March 22, compared with the same period last year. Hutchinson said he submitted his proposed ban to a handful of African American politicians, including Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, County Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke, school board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte and state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles).

Because Parks will miss today's council meeting, the proposal will be carried by Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose South Los Angeles district includes a bus stop where eight people were shot in February.

Asked whether she thought the moratorium would temporarily halt homicides, Perry answered: "No. But I think it will cause people to talk."

"I don't think it's silly," the councilwoman added. "I think it's symbolic. It might raise people's consciousness a bit, and if that happens, it will have fulfilled its purpose."

david.zahniser@latimes.com