A federal drug raid near MacArthur Park in downtown Los Angeles has fueled debate over how the city should respond to drug use, crime and homelessness, as voters prepare to choose a next mayor. The operation, carried out by federal agents together with the Los Angeles Police Department, produced 18 arrests and targeted fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution around the park, according to the U.S. attorney’s office and local officials.
The raid occurred at a high-stakes point in the mayoral primary campaign, where public safety has remained a prominent theme. Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, seeking a second four-year term, has been pushing the city council to accelerate police hiring during a first term shaped by the aftermath of the most destructive wildfire in city history. The primary election ends June 2.
The federal-local operation followed years of resident complaints about crime, drug use and gang activity in the MacArthur Park area, which sits in a densely populated immigrant neighborhood west of downtown. The park has also been the focus of controversy over a needle giveaway program, a harm-reduction effort that provides clean needles in an effort to reduce transmission of HIV or other infections. City Hall has faced pressure to suspend the needle giveaway program at the park, which some residents and critics have blamed for sustaining neighborhood problems rather than solving them.
During a Wednesday debate, Bass signaled she would end the needle giveaway program at MacArthur Park. That stance put her in agreement with her rival Spencer Pratt, a Republican who has said he wants a citywide ban on needle exchanges. Nithya Raman, a Democratic City Councilmember, said she would retain the program, according to the debate.
After the raid, Bass spokesperson Paige Sterling said in a statement, “We are actively reviewing these programs citywide and recognize that many of them are operating alongside other valuable services.” Bass also argued during the debate that “We can’t keep LA safe with the size of the department we have now,” while Pratt said the debate should not be driven solely by crime statistics. “No matter what these crime statistics are telling anybody, it’s not how people feel on the street,” Pratt said.
Police statistics show property and violent crime are down this year compared with 2025, according to the report, but the campaign’s focus has remained on the gap between reported trends and what residents describe experiencing at street level. The debate also reflected broader concerns about whether the Los Angeles Police Department has adequate funding and personnel, with Los Angeles set to host the 2028 Olympics and World Cup games beginning in Southern California next month.
The raid also highlighted cooperation between federal and local authorities in a city where President Donald Trump has often criticized California politics and policies. Trump has long had a strained relationship with heavily Democratic California, and the report noted that in 2019 he threatened to intercede in the state’s homeless crisis but did not follow through. Last summer, the administration deployed the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles against the wishes of Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom after protests related to immigration raids across the region.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, a Trump administration appointee, said in a statement that authorities were “reclaiming MacArthur Park from criminals and drug addicts to return this public space to the citizens.” Bass said the operation had been planned for “many months.” Pratt said he welcomed the greater federal involvement, praising the joint raid as “unbelievable.”
The mayoral race for Los Angeles—home to nearly 4 million people—has unfolded amid persistent homelessness and visible encampments, along with rising rents and home prices, the report said. It also described demographic change in the region, with Los Angeles County losing about 54,000 people from July 2024 to July 2025, the largest numeric population drop for a county in the nation, according to federal figures. During Bass’s first term, her administration pointed to figures showing it has reduced the homeless population, but tent encampments and rusting RVs remain common sights.
The report said Los Angeles police staffing has declined from a high of 10,000 sworn personnel in 2020 to roughly 8,700. As a candidate four years ago, Bass talked of expanding the police department, but the city has continued to debate how to balance enforcement priorities with services for people experiencing addiction and homelessness.
Local business owners across from the park expressed mixed reactions to the raid and to Bass’s pledge to end the needle giveaway. Norm Langer, owner of Langer’s Delicatessen, said he was “absolutely thrilled” by the federal raid but appeared to question Bass’s commitment to ending the park’s program, saying the program was “prolonging these people getting help.” John Alle, who owns the restaurant building, said the LAPD had cut patrols in the park, adding, “We’ve got a day or two where we don’t have MacArthur Park patrolled. And we’re suffering the consequences,” and concluding, “The crime has not gone down.”