Last summer, something other than COVID-19 began to unsettle Eddi Ortiz.Two Los Angeles Police Department detectives stopped by his coffee shop, Holy Grounds Coffee and Tea.They were investigating a shooting and wanted to review the security camera footage.Ortiz agreed, but felt uneasy.He often heard about business and car robberies, and now, another shooting.Ortiz's informal count was confirmed by police statistics.Crime is getting worse in El Sereno, a tightly knit, majority-Latino section of Los Angeles between Lincoln Heights, South Pasadena and Alhambra.Gun violence and homicides have skyrocketed across the city in the past two years, reflecting a nationwide spike believed to be related in part to social instability triggered by the pandemic.In 2021, Los Angeles recorded nearly 400 homicides, the highest number since 2007, though still well below the peaks of the early 1990s.In El Sereno, eight people were killed last year, a marked increase from two or three in the past seven years, according to data compiled by the Times from records at the El Sereno County coroner's office. The Angels.Most of the homicides are gang-related, according to police and municipal authorities.“It seems like a low number, but when you consider that El Sereno is small compared to other parts of the city, it's significant,” Ortiz said of the recent killings.As in other parts of the city, the increase in firearms, including “ghost guns” that lack serial numbers, has helped fuel the violence.The pandemic has hit working-class Latino neighborhoods like El Sereno especially hard, at the same time that crime and homelessness have increased.However, while problems have increased, many longtime residents are concerned about the gentrification of their neighborhood.In recent years, home resellers have renovated them and put prices in the millions.Massachusetts, New York, and Nevada license plates are becoming more common.While homeowners may benefit from rising home values, renters fear home prices will crowd them out of this neighborhood of about 40,000 residents, which in 2013 was 82% Latino, 11% Asian and 5% white, according to census data and a Times analysis.In fact, a community survey sponsored by various groups and businesses last April found that El Sereno residents often listed affordable housing and homelessness as top concerns.El Sereno is defined by its unique geography, set amidst rolling hills, with Cal State Los Angeles nestled on its southeastern edge.It is located on the border of Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley, with South Pasadena to the north.Valley Boulevard, the iconic strip lined with provincial cuisine restaurants from all over China, has its western end here.Union Pacific tracks run through the area, making passing trains a tempting target for thieves.Here, too, is a portion of the 710 Freeway, the subject of a decades-long battle, with homes purchased by the California Department of Transportation sitting vacant as residents of El Sereno and South Pasadena oppose an extension to connect it with the 210 freeway.Sergeant Jaime Chacon, who oversees the LAPD's Hollenbeck Division gang unit, which includes El Sereno, said there has been an increase in gang fights stemming from drug sales and train robberies. ."Everything that is sent from the ports goes through here, and along the route, the cars are robbed," Chacón said."Inevitably, the gang that controls the area where the train is robbed wants their share of the cut."Chacon noted that he hadn't seen so many shootings and homicides since he moved to Hollenbeck nearly a decade ago.He said some crimes can be addressed by increased patrols, but violence from gangs and other criminal groups is a thornier problem because it is deeply embedded in the neighborhood's history.Solutions will take time and should include more gang intervention programs, in which workers, often from gang backgrounds, help youth make better decisions, he said.The victims of last year's El Sereno homicides were mostly Latino men in their 30s and 40s.Several of them were killed along Alhambra Avenue and Valley Boulevard, which run parallel to train tracks and are lined with industrial businesses and warehouses.Los Angeles Councilman Kevin de León, whose district includes El Sereno, said the pandemic has amplified existing inequalities.“We knew the inequalities were there,” he said. “But the global pandemic has exposed them in such a crude way that it is almost Darwinian: only the strong survive,” said De León, who is running for mayor.He believes that has led some people to take advantage and commit crimes.De León, a former state senator, won the council job in 2020 after his predecessor, José Huizar, was suspended from office.Huizar has pleaded not guilty to federal charges including bribery, racketeering and fraud.On Huntington Drive, a major corridor lined with restaurants, bakeries and markets, homeless encampments have sprung up in recent years.Many of the people living in tents in Huntington had roots in the area, according to authorities and residents.Yolanda García, co-founder of the El Sereno Historical Society, believes that many crimes are linked to gangs or the homeless.“There are people with mental health issues who are out there stealing properties and houses,” she said.“That is a big problem that is happening in the community.”Although most community survey participants said they felt safe, some pointed to homelessness, gang violence, and robbery as factors of insecurity.“I feel very unsafe when I walk through my neighborhood,” one resident wrote."I had my car damaged while driving down Huntington Drive and a homeless man was standing in the street throwing objects at passing vehicles."In the Los Angeles Police Hollenbeck Division, there was an increase in violent crimes committed by homeless residents through October 23, 2021, compared to the previous year, with nearly the same number of homeless people reporting being victims of violent crimes.Shortly after entering City Hall, De León spearheaded the purchase of two hotels to house the homeless of El Sereno, as part of a federally funded initiative called Project Roomkey.All but two of the people in the camps moved into hotels, De León said.Once the camps were vacated, property crimes in the vicinity decreased, as did thefts that occurred within the camps, Chacón said.He added that Los Angeles police are now working with Union Pacific officials to tighten security along the train tracks.“Union Pacific is deeply concerned about the increase in cargo theft in Los Angeles, and we have taken several steps to address this criminal activity,” Robynn Tysver, a company spokeswoman, said in a statement.At the corner of Lowell Avenue and Huntington Drive, just yards from the Alhambra city limits, is a community garden with vegetables sprouting between fountains and pergolas.The garden is a hub for community festivals and events, a place where residents can exchange ideas and resources.It's also a sanctuary for a neighborhood facing a complex mix of crime and gentrification, said Erika Crenshaw, its co-manager.The area surrounding the garden has been largely free of crime, except for the murder of a 30-year-old man a mile away on Huntington Drive.But elsewhere in El Sereno, some residents and business owners remain on alert.On a recent afternoon, two Holy Grounds baristas took orders from a group of customers.Most of the people who stop in for a cup of coffee are longtime Latino residents.Ortiz has lived in El Sereno on and off for more than 10 years.He helped run the cafeteria before becoming the sole owner.A few years ago, someone broke into the back of the cafeteria, which is rented out to tenants.Ortiz got the man, who appeared to be under the influence of drugs, to leave.It was not the only incident: A homeless man stole their tip jar.A waitress was sexually harassed on her way to work.“As a business owner, I have to worry about the safety of the baristas,” Ortiz said."It's a concern I didn't have a few years ago."Times staff writers Maloy Moore and Kevin Rector contributed to this report.To read this note in English click hereRuben Vives is a general assignment reporter for the Los Angeles Times.A native of Guatemala, he got his start in journalism by writing for The Times' Homicide Report in 2007. He helped uncover the financial corruption in the city of Bell that led to criminal charges against eight city officials.The 2010 investigative series won the Pulitzer Prize for public service and other prestigious awards.Alejandra Reyes-Velarde is a Metro reporter for the Los Angeles Times.She previously wrote for the San Francisco Business Times and the Sacramento Bee.A UCLA graduate, she is originally from Duarte, Calif., and is a native Spanish speaker.