The Telegraph of London reports on LA Police Chief Bill Bratton's attempts to rid LA of street gangs and crime. They call him the blunt super-cop, because he has promised to:

"...flood the districts where gangs operate with foot patrols, ending a policy that advised officers not to get out of their vehicles for their own safety in what were essentially unofficial "no go" zones.

To try to disrupt the gangs' territorial nature he has also ordered daily cleaning of the coded graffiti by which they mark their sphere of influence, and in a series of high-profile raids his officers have already seized several caches of assault rifles.

Mr Bratton, 54, described the gangs' activities as "homeland terrorism", and added: "It is time to fight the internal war on terrorism as well." It is an approach that has resulted in the Los Angeles Times nicknaming him "supercop" and gained him the full backing of the local police officers' union."

Bratton has his detractors, but many, particularly mothers and relatives of the many murdered young men,"have embraced the possibility of a new dawn."

"This news is sweet," said Alice Brown, who recently led a demonstration of dozens of women in support of the crackdown. "We are watching our children die like dogs. We have to stop this."

The article has several links to other articles about Bratton, including this one by TalkLeft.