Night Market Delayed Due To Construction

From the Night Market at MacArthur Park's Facebook Page

Ladies and gentlemen, 

We have horrible news!!! It saddens us that the Night Market has been postponed due to construction work Councilman Dee Andrews have been working on for quite some time and is excited to see the new renovations. The construction work will take place in August which affects our market. 

We are truly deeply sorry to all of our vendors and all of Long Beach who've been eager to see and enjoy a Sunday evening with friends and families at the market with live arts, entertainment, food, and many more. Thank you to our organizers and the rest of our volunteers who've put in so much effort to make a difference. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please do contact the Office of Councilman Dee Andrews Dee.Andrews@longbeach.gov, Tonya Martin (562) 570-6816, Tonya.Martin@longbeach.gov

Thank you everyone. Have a blessed day and stay tuned! We're currently working on the dates!

To Sandy Nou, all the neighbors, neighborhood groups and residents would like to say thank you for the continued attempt to bring this wonderful project to Central Long Beach. We will be supporting you in any way needed when the final days are announced.

Clean Up: Saturday 08/01/2015: 10am: Spaulding and Junipero

Sunday Safety Report: 07/20/2015 to 07/26/2015

This map shows a cluster of activity. I have added a new category vehicular loitering because a large number of trailers have begun parking on Orange and around MacArthur Park. In many cases, they are simply dumping their trash onto the street I would suggest that Long Beach City Council place the "No Parking: Vehicles Over Six Feet," around the park and on Orange.

There is also pedestrian loitering still at Anaheim and Walnut as well as to a slightly lesser degree on 17th street. I have followed through with a request to trim the trees around the street lights.  In case you're wondering why, I am including a pic of what is common place on 17th Street. The light you see here is at Gundry and 17th. Clearly it's not serving its purpose if it's so badly surrounded by tree branches.

Now, all the street lights between Gundry and Alamitos that have been obscured have been photographed and reported. Also, notice on the map above a trend of thefts from vehicles that had multiple incidents over multiple days. If you live by Stanley and 15th, please read about keeping your car safe.

The orange triangle just above 14th is a residence being operated as a casino. Like the loitering on 17th, this is common knowledge in the area, so just be aware of the extra traffic and safety issues that it creates.

Also notice that all activity clusters to the east and then trends in that direction. So most of the loitering is near the park, And then the thefts, thefts from cars, breaking and entering and assaults all seem to move east over the next few days. 

The above map is the worst the MacArthur Park Neighborhood has seen. And I think with the money, community organizations coming together and great people cleaning up central Long Beach it's a very good time to meet your neighbor, connect and start looking out for each other. 

We'll do an midweek update on Wednesday.

Brief Experiment: 

I wanted to try creating an animated Gif that might show a little better how crime is trending in the area. The one you see below shows it trending from Monday 07-12 to Sunday 07-18.

 

Announced Clean Up Orange Anaheim to 15th Finished

There was an announced clean up of Orange Street from Anaheim to 15th. just shy of Rosa Park's Park yesterday. The street was significantly cleaner than the first time it was hit, especially around the vacant lot at Werner and Orange. The one place that is still in need of some TLC, is next to the Dollar Tree at 15th Street.

It was good to meet four neighbors on Orange, all of whom expressed an interest in helping build a nicer community. Though to be fair, one resident called that Saturday a little hot and humid to be picking up trash. Our next clean up will be on Saturday August 1st. This is a special clean up in that it will be focused on MacArthur Park to prepare it for the Night Market the next day.

Thanks Again To The AOC7 for the Joint Clean Up

Suggestion To The City: Green Cans for Organic Waste

Since the city of Long Beach wants to get people recycling and save on refuse, I recommend we add the green trash cans to refuse. This would free up some room in everyone's can for the rest of the trash. That would be very helpful in zip codes like 90813 where there are twice as many people and still around the same amount of litter containers as other zip codes. Green cans are generally used for tree clippings, grass and other organic material that can be reused for fertilization purposes. It would also give the city an endless supply of mulch while encouraging those who want to garden and make the city a look a little nicer always had room in their cans to do so. 

Sunday Safety Update: 07/12/2015 to 07/18/2015

There was much less reported activity, and for at least one week very little violent enough to make the press. You will notice the trend of car thefts and thefts from vehicles has moved a little bit south of Rotary Centenial Park, but it still remains in about the same area. Earlier maps showed more car thefts in that area, so please keep your cars locked.

You may also notice a lot of tagging centered around Gardenia and Cherry. This is two separate groups tagging the area. It is a different gang on Gardenia than it is on Cherry. The loitering on Anaheim and Walnut is a homeless camp. The loitering on 17th and Alamitos is much more serious, likely involving drug sales. 

All tagging has been reported for clean up. All dumped items have been reported for pick up.

Please keep your eye on the following three things: any out of place activity on Gardenia between 14th and 15th street. Keep all cars locked anywhere near Rotary Centennial Park, also on Dawson and Spaulding. And if you happen to pass the intersection of 17th and Alamitos, especially at night, be observant and be safe.

I am going to report every tree blocking a street light for trimming right now since 17th is now arguably the darkest street at night in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood, now that Gundry has been addressed. Also, so far this week up until Tuesday, all looks pretty clear. During our joint clean up, several neighbors who wanted to get involved in the area immediately around MacArthur Park did get in contact with us. We should be meeting more here pretty soon, as we're going to try for our first solo clean up next.

Cambodia Town Re-Visioning Meeting: This Saturday

The next re-visioning meeting for the Anaheim Corridor is this Saturday.  This meeting is a little later than the last two. In all likelihood this will focus on what design guidelines should be implemented.

These are the meetings that resulted in the creation of the Sunday Night Market in Cambodia Town set to debut in less than two week.s

Second Town Hall Community Meeting/ Actually The Third Meeting
 
This Saturday, July 25, 2:30 – 5:00 pm, Mark Twain Library Auditorium, 1401 E. Anaheim St.

Cat Issues: My Digital Camera Is Destroyed

My cat just destroyed my camera and computer's ability to communicate with each other, this will affect my ability to report graffiti and schedule dumped items for pick up.

UPDATE: I have a new way of communicating with the memory card. It will not be convenient as I will have to take out the card every time I upload pictures, but it will work.

Joint AOC7/ MacArthur Park Clean Up Done

There was an announced joint cleaning that covered the area immediately around MacArthur Park this morning. Thanks to the AOC7/ The OC Credit Union, Edgar Rangel Real Estate Consultant, Brian Ben from the City of Long Beach for the dumpster and to the volunteers from both neighborhoods.

While we wanted to get more trash out of the MacArthur Park Neighborhood but the dumpster was completely filled within two hours with waste from the alleyway between Warren and Orange alone.

Next Saturday there will be a smaller clean up of Orange Street just south of Rosa Park's Park. I am going to try to schedule another larger clean up for the fourth Saturday in August. Please keep in touch for future clean ups by joining the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Facebook Group. And continue to support the AOC7 for the great things they are bringing to all of our neighborhoods.

Joint AOC7/ MacArthur Park Clean Up Tomorrow 07/18/2015 8:30am

Safety Update: 24 Year Old Arrested In July 4th Stabbing

A 24-year-old Long Beach man was behind bars Tuesday on suspicion of fatally stabbing his former roommate during an argument. Norman Mathew Perdon was jailed Friday on suspicion of stabbing 38-year- old Allen Estes of Long Beach on July 4, according to Long Beach police. Estes was found around 5:30 a.m. by police near the intersection of East Anaheim Street and Dawson Avenue. He died at the scene.

Help bring the families of the victims closure/ and keep everyone safe.

There is a huge homeless encampment at Walnut and Anaheim nightly. I think the city should probably be on the look out for the safety of everyone there. Also Walnut from 14th down, much like 17th and Orange, has issues with juvenile loitering, competing tagging, trespassing, fireworks and higher than par assaults on the Crime Reports Website. When, passing close to Walnut and Anaheim, be extra cautious.

This arrest came on tips from the public. Please go here for the full story. Thank you to LBPD and to those tipsters that helped bring about the arrest.  Remember, we are still looking for information in the slayings of the following people, so if you know something, tell someone. I know in at least one case, someone does.

The following information reflects the fatal shootings in or near our neighborhood. Officer involved shootings are not included, neither are shootings were a suspect is in custody. This is simply so everyone in the neighborhood knows who was a victim and where it happened.

The arrest for the July 4th stabbing came on a tip. Let's jog some memories in the hopes of bringing on a few more.The tip links you can click on after reading any of these stories allow you to submit anonymously if needed. You can also use the http://www.crimestoppersusa.com/ website to the same effect.

17th an Alamitos Area:

Anthony Holston III, a 20-year-old black man, was shot and killed Friday, June 5, near the intersection of East 17th Street and Alamitos Avenue in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. East side of the Alamitos and 17th intersection.

Tomas Palmas, a 42-year-old Latino, was shot and killed July 10 in the 1700 block of Cerritos Avenue in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records. West side of the Alamitos and 17th intersection.

There is usually a tremendous amount of loitering at the area of 17th and Orange, so someone very likely knows something. Also, considering, what elements of our city government live very close to this intersection, it should be the safest intersection in Long Beach.

North of MacArthur Park/ Just South of Signal Hill

Alicia Faith Todd, a 21-year-old black woman, was shot and killed Wednesday, June 24, in the 1100 block of East 21st Street in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

Close To Downtown

Iran Francisco Maese, a 35-year-old Latino, was shot and killed Sunday, June 28, in the 700 block of Linden Avenue in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

Douglas Jerome Wilson, a 37-year-old black man, was shot and killed Monday, June 22, in the 800 block of Chestnut Avenue in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

Unannounced Clean Up: Warner Anahiem to 15th Done

No pictures, but as of today, every street around the park has been cleaned before our joint clean up effort this Saturday. Thanks in advance to the AOC7 for giving our neighbors the opportunity to get rid of some of the things that don't normally fit in the regular trash containers.

Update: Rose is clean from 14th to PCH too. Meant to get 14th to Anaheim, but am a little tired.

14th Street Clean Up: Orange to Cherry Done

About 96 Gallons of trash was removed from 14th Street this morning

About 96 gallons of trash was removed from 14th Street in preparation for our joint clean up around MacArthur Park this Saturday. We're getting the smaller things around the park as much as possible before Saturday, so there will be more room for the big ticket items like mattresses and furniture in the dumpster. Again, we will have a dumpster in case any MacArthur Park needs to get rid of larger furniture too large for the average trash can. See the flyer below for details. 

By the way, so far the follow streets have been cleared of litter at least once: Peterson, Gundry, 14th, 17th, Sherman and Stanton. Volunteers are welcome and would be greatly appreciated for the joint clean up this Saturday.

Joint AOC7/ MacArthur Park Clean Up This Sat. 07/18/2015: 8:30am

Sunday Safety Update: 07/05/2015 to 07/11/2015

The MacArthur Park Neighborhood was quiet last week; the outskirts, not so much. Within the borders of the neighborhood itself there were mostly car thefts, vandalism and a few assaults in places were assault is unfortunately common in the neighborhood. Based on what happened last week, please keep your car locked around Rotary Centennial Park. Also, be very cautious around Dawson/ St Louis and Anaheim. That was the location of the homeless man who was stabbed on the 4th, and things are still happening in that area, though they are occurring less often..

May and June has seen a 5.3% spike in crime. And there have been an alarming number of shootings, too many of which have been fatal. “We are very concerned about a recent spike in violent assaults,” said Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna, in a release. “We are working closely with city departments on a public safety initiative, and increasing our efforts to enhance partnerships within the community. Keeping our city safe is everyone’s responsibility, and I look forward to working together to make an impact on crime.”

This slowed the loitering down

While Mayor Garcia did post on his Facebook Page a notice that he was concerned which prompted a lot of community feedback, it has rapidly been buried by other posts touting his one year record. Underlying concerns that the violence may be the result of gangs, was quickly denied by Long Beach police at a community meeting to discuss the violence which has predominately affected Central Long Beach. Since the meeting there was another shooting on the other side of the intersection of 17th an Alamitos, closer to Cerritos street. While it does not show up as a homicide in the Crime Reports map, the victim has since been pronounced dead of his injuries.

42-year-old man shot on a Long Beach street this week has died of his injuries, authorities said Saturday. Police responding to a report of a shooting found Tomas Palmas, 42, lying in the street in the 1700 block of Cerritos Avenue about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said.

The other side of this intersection is where Anthony Holston the III was murdered on June 5th, 2015. The police, the mayor, sixth district council, the police, the Press Telegram and the Long Beach Post have all been informed about the incredible amount of loitering and drug traffic at this intersection. The police briefly had a camera at the intersection, which really stopped the loitering until it came down a week later.  In other words, even though this happened outside our neighborhood, please be very cautious at the intersection of Alamitos and 17th. Also be aware, if anything else happens on either side of this intersection, absolutely everyone in the city government who needed to be informed to prevent it, was informed, and so has the press. Minor Update: Most of the street lights on 17th in this area are obscured by trees. I'm going to try to report them for trimming.

Yes, I know this update was released on Tuesday.

Grundy is clean Anahiem to 15th. Mext Week...

The City Has Released This Press Release Regarding Crime

The City of Long Beach announced today the efforts underway from the Long Beach Public Safety Continuum in response to recent increases in crime. In 2014, the City achieved the lowest reported number of violent crimes in 42 years. However, over the past few months, overall crime has increased 5.3 percent when compared to the 5 year average through May 31, 2015.

“Every department in the city is working to address this summer spike in violence and to keep every community safe,” said Mayor Robert Garcia.

“We are very concerned about a recent spike in violent assaults,” said Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna. “We are working closely with City Departments on a public safety initiative, and increasing our efforts to enhance partnerships within the community. Keeping our city safe is everyone’s responsibility, and I look forward to working together to make an impact on crime.”

The Police Department continues to be proactive in efforts to combat crime. Officers are responding to high priority calls citywide in under five minutes, allowing for more opportunity to capture suspects and start investigations.

The City of Long Beach strongly encourages the community to be an active member in combating crime, and asks that “If you see something, say something.” All cities need the members of the public to come forward and provide information on what is happening in their community.

“Our police need our support so if you see a crime being committed, it needs to be reported so we can hold those who commit violent crimes accountable," said Mayor Garcia.

A CITYWIDE PUBLIC SAFETY EFFORT

The Police Department continues to partner with the City Prosecutor’s Office by enforcing Gang Court Orders, to suppress gangs from having control over our neighborhoods. Ninety-nine Gang Court Order arrests have been made so far this year, while 167 Gang Court Order arrests were made last year (2014).

With the support of City Council, $350,000 in non-recurring funding is currently being used to target residential property crime, allowing the Police Department to bolster efforts towards investigating and preventing burglaries. As of the end of May, the city has experienced 212 fewer residential burglaries for 2015, in comparison to May of last year, which is a 21.9 percent decrease.

Here’s a comparison of some categories of crime through May 2015, and compared to the five-year average (avg.): 

• Murder, down 27 percent; down 47 percent avg.
• Aggravated assault, up 33 percent; up 12 percent avg.
• Garage burglary, down 3 percent; down 9 percent avg.
• Auto burglary, up 5 percent; down 5 percent avg.
• Grand Theft Auto, up 6 percent; up 4 percent avg.
• Petty theft greater than $50, up 72 percent; up 8 percent avg.

The entire Long Beach community benefits from the City’s Public Safety Continuum, which augments Police and Fire services with the work of several other City Departments and services all contributing to making Long Beach a better, and safer, city, including Library Services; Parks, Recreation and Marine; Workforce Development; City Prosecutor’s Office; Code Enforcement; Homeless and other Health Services; Graffiti Removal; and Affordable Housing.

The City also reaches out and works extensively with our community partners, including neighborhood organizations, non-profit agencies, and other government agencies.

The City’s Violence Prevention Plan, known as Safe Long Beach, has been nationally recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice, which provides an advantage in receiving federal grant awards to implement the plan.

Safe Long Beach is a comprehensive strategic plan for action to prevent violence in families, schools, and communities. Addressing a broad safety agenda, Safe Long Beach draws upon the City’s many existing assets. These include strong neighborhoods and neighborhood organizations, a thriving downtown, continuously emerging economic development opportunities, award winning schools, and stable leadership.

By forging relationships across disciplines, professions, and neighborhood boundaries, the Plan seeks to help provide victims with the protection and services they need to pursue safe and healthy lives.

The City will be planning an event in the area most affected by the recent increase in crime to offer services from the Public Safety Continuum, and engage youth in our community in a positive way.

For more news, pictures, videos and announcements of what’s happening in Long Beach, ‘Like’ us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CityofLongBeachCA

Cambodia Town Night Market and Community Garden Update

There was a Town Hall meeting at Mark Twain Library this evening. The subject was the Night Market which is slated to start Sundays at MacArthur Park from 4pm to 9pm on August 2nd. The goal of the Night Market, which evolved from the suggestion of a Farmer's Market at the Anaheim Corridor re-visioning meetings was meant to promote affordable, family friendly and fresh produce. There would likely be native Cambodian foods as well as food trucks. This would be the first Farmer's Market in the 6th District and the only one taking place at night. Anyone who would like to be involved can email LBNightMarket@gmail.com or call the organizers at (562) 388-4978. You can also like their Facebook Page to stay informed.

The community garden is planned for the vacant lot at Peterson and Anaheim. The tentative name is the healing fields. The group creating the garden already has a community garden at Dawson and Anaheim [I will show you pictures when I find it]. They plan to remove the cement from the lot, install new fences and add in gas and water meters. The garden will be multicultural with several volunteers working different plots on the garden. The group creating the garden, SCIC, is creating an advisory group to start that organization of volunteers. The location of the garden  is controversial because it was formerly used at the Cambodian Genocide Memorial every April 17th, the date the slaughter of 2 million Cambodians began. And those who held the memorial on that plot expressed strong disappointment that the plot isn't being set aside for that memorial anymore.

What Is Next Door And Why Sign Up

What is Nextdoor:

Nextdoor is free for residents and for the City. Each neighborhood creates its own private Nextdoor website, accessible only to residents of that neighborhood.  Long Beach residents can use Nextdoor to get to share information about neighborhood watch issues, local events, and other related activities. We believe a healthier and more engaged city creates stronger communities and Nextdoor can help to do just that.

How Does Nextdoor Work:

Nextdoor was specifically designed to make neighbors feel comfortable sharing information with one another in order to help build stronger communities.  Neighborhoods establish and self-manage their own Nextdoor website.  Information shared on each Nextdoor site is only visible to members who live in the neighborhood and who have verified their address. We are in the process of mapping the neighborhoods which will range in size from 50 to 250 households.

Privacy:

Information shared on Nextdoor is password protected and cannot be accessed by those outside the neighborhood or found on Google or other search engines. You can post notices that some neighboring communities will see. For instance, if you post a crime update about the MacArthur Park Neighborhood you can chose to make it visible to all the immediate surrounding neighborhoods.

In addition, Nextdoor never shares personal information with any third parties. Unlike an email listserv or other online group, neighbor posts are organized and archived for future reference.

How Do I Sign Up:

Those interested in joining their neighborhood’s Nextdoor website can visit www.nextdoor.com and enter their home address. If Nextdoor is already launched in your area you can immediately sign up. For the MacArthur Park area and all surrounding areas, it has already been established.

Joint AOC7/ MacArthur Park Clean Up 07/18/15 8:30am - Noon

Recap: Meeting To Address The Social Media Threats of Violence

On June 25th rumors of violence against 150 African American and Asian woman from a gang began to surface on the internet. When these rumors started circulating, I had the choice of sharing or not sharing. It was actually not an easy choice. If I did publish it, I may be contributing to the culture of mistrust. And if those rumors are false that's exactly what the person who is spreading them wants. And if they are true, I have failed to protect those who truly need it. I chose not to for a simple reason, I knew nothing of the source. And publishing un-sourced information is akin to tabloid journalism.

Also something about the rumors felt off and the idea of publishing made me increasingly uncomfortable. So if you're wondering why I didn't share those social media threats, that was my reasoning.

There was a meeting tonight at Temple Baptist Church to address the increased violence in Long Beach over the month of June and those social media threats that accompanied them. The person giving that presentation was the East Division's Commander Robert Luman. There were somewhere around 100 people in attendance and the population was pretty diverse, overall a good representation of Central Long Beach's demographics.

In a nutshell, Luman calls the social media treats not credible. The reason cited was that targeting African American and Asian woman would not bolster the gang's reputation. Nor, would it help bring the gang any revenue. So from a practical perspective, the gang has nothing to gain by doing so. This information comes from current gang members, the LA Sheriff's Department and those working with the gang members in prison. One possible alternate explanation is another gang started the rumor to draw attention away from themselves.

What the meeting failed to explain was: "If the social media threats are not credible, why has there been so much more violence in June?" An additional question that remains unanswered was: "if there is no gang involvement, why are women, children and in quite a few cases the homeless being targeted in these crimes?" It was stated there will be additional town hall style meetings where residents of Central Long Beach will be able to ask these kinds of questions.

The community meeting also did very little to quell some people's concerns over recent officer involved shootings. When pressed on the issue Luman said answering questions about specific cases may jeopardize prosecution.

Back to the gang connection, Luman's did explain there is a difference between the crime being motivated by a gang and the crime involving a gang. The implication is of course that while gangs may be involved in some of these shootings, there isn't enough evidence to say that the gang is primary motivation for the shooting.

The end of the meeting involved the host asking members to share possible suggestions on how to bring an end to the violence. Those suggestions included more officers patrolling the sixth district, keeping community centers open later, more summer programs, more coordination between the city, the community and LBUSD, increased support for Long Beach's non profit groups which often intervene with the violence, trying harder to connect with your neighbors and their cultures, better community policing and introducing yourself to your neighborhood police before you need them so you have a better connection to them when you do.

UPDATE: Press Telegram's Article on This Meeting

A list of Positive Changes in Central Long Beach

Sometimes, admin things we can't control we lose focus on some on the positive changes that time has brought to us. So I just wanted to create a list of things your neighborhood groups, district representatives, citizens groups, businesses and volunteers have brought to Central Long Beach.

1. AOC7's annual Literacy Fair
2. The West Division Leadership Program
3. Building Healthy Community Meetings
4. The Cambodian New Year Festival 
5. The Citizen's State of the Union
6. Neighborhood Leadership 
7. MacArthur Park's Weekly Clean Up
8. The Joint AOC7/ MacArthur Park Clean Up
9. Almost 200 Central Long Beach Residents on Next Door
10. Community Nights Out
11. Free movies in the park
12. Drought Resistant Planting Rebates
13. The Go Long Beach App
14. The Newly Created Jenny Rivera Park
15. I DIG Tree Plantings 
16. Friend's Fest - Drake Park  
17. Free classes at the the Gamboa Theatre
18. The Home Improvement Rebate Program
19. The Business Improvement Rebate Program
20. The LB/LBUD Free Summer Lunch Program 
21. Pacific Gateway Job Fair
22. 100+ New Neighborhood Watches
23. WESCA alley wide clean ups with the crusher
24. Wrigley's monthly barbeque
25. The ROCK Renewable Hope Thanksgiving Feeding Project 
26. District Six Youth Job/ Intern Fair
27. The Anaheim Re-Visioning
28. The AOC7's 10 Street Beautification
29. The Gundry Resurfacing/ Sidewalk Replacement
30. The forthcoming Night Market/ Community Garden

We will be adding to this list as time passes. If I left any positive change you have seen come to Central Long Beach off this list, just email it to shaynem@hotmail.com.  

The Cleaning of Grundy Street Moved to Sunday 07/12/2015: 10am

The cleaning of Grundy will be moved to Sunday 07/12 at 10am, as I have just secured a job as a test proctor for the CBEST that Saturday.

Unannounced Clean Up: the Rest of 14th; 17th Sherman to Cherry

There was an unannounced clean up to finish off 14th Street. I will give residents some credit, a lot more have clean up the intense amount of fireworks than have done so in the past. We will be back to finish 17th Street very soon. Remember there is an announced cleaning of Grundy this coming Saturday in preparation for the Joint AOC7/ MacArthur Park Clean Up the following week. Additionally, the first neighborhood that asks MacArthur Park to bring their cleaning supplies to this Thursday, can have a street cleaned on us.

UPDATE 07/07/15: There was an unannounced clean up of Peterson from 15th Street to Anaheim this morning on 07/07/2015. Also if anyone is missing a child-sized clown suit, one was found at the intersection of 14th and Peterson. Also if anyone is missing a child-sized clown suit, one was found at the intersection of 14th and Peterson

UPDATE 07/09/15: There was an unannounced clean up of 17th Street from Sherman to Junipero. Additionally, the first neighborhood that asks MacArthur Park to bring their cleaning supplies to this Thursday, can have a street cleaned on us. If nobody asks, we'll be tackling Warren Street that Thursday.

Sunday Safety Update 06-28-2015 to 07-04-2015

Most of the illegal fireworks on the 4th of July came from the circled area. The worst area was 15th and Gaviota where residents from three separate buildings with parties of more than twenty each were setting them off in the middle of the street. The same problem, though to a slightly lesser degree, existed on Rose and Gardenia. Mayor Garcia is asking for ideas on how to curb this trend on his Facebook Page.

Right now an informal poll shows most MacArthur Park/ Long Beach residents, 83% are not happy with the response to the illegal fireworks.

There was also another homicide. That was the stabbing of a homeless man at 5:38am at Dawson. Here is the news story about that stabbing:

A man believed to be homeless was found stabbed to death early Saturday morning in Long Beach’s Cambodia Town neighborhood, a police spokeswoman said. Streets near the crime scene in the 1200 block of Dawson, just south of Anaheim Street, were closed for several hours as police collected evidence from an area that spanned more than three blocks.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was taken by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office for an autopsy. Coroner’s personnel will be in charge of identifying the man. The investigation is ongoing. The stabbing comes after a recent spate of shootings and violent crime in Long Beach over the last five weeks. In June, five murders took place, the highest for that month in at least five years.

There will be a meeting to address the increased violence this coming Tuesday. The meeting will be held Tuesday night, July 7, 2015 at 6:00 PM. The location of the meeting is: Temple Baptist Church, 2825 E. 10th Street, Long Beach, California 90804. You can see a full post about that meeting by following this link. While I encourage everyone in all neighborhoods to attend, I will also attend that meeting and pass on whatever is discussed.

You will also notice a string of breaking and entering just north of the Rose Park Neighborhood. This is interesting because last week, there was a similar trend just to the south of that line heading south west. Be aware that may change direction any time and end up in any bordering neighborhood including the Rose Park, the AOC7 or MacArthur Park.

Also notice the car thefts around Rotary Centennial Park. If you pull up a map that goes further back you can see how car thefts have been following a circular pattern around that park at Stanton and PCH. You can also see several clear indications that car theft is heading SW through the Zaferia Neighborhood, towards ours. Again, here is the post on preventing car theft to prevent this from happening to you.

Let me end with a positive note, despite that incident on Dawson, the map of MacArthur Park for this week is nearly crime free. In addition to that, very little property damage, except the fireworks we will all be sweeping up, was done. There was almost no tagging and very little dumped trash. So that huge cloud, comes with a small silver lining, and I know of a lot of people working very hard to ensure all of central Long Beach finds a few more.

If you set off fireworks in the street, please clean them up

Regarding Illegal Fireworks in Long Beach on 07/04/2014

14th Street Clean Up Done: Junipero to St. Louis

There was an announced cleaning of 14th street from Junipero the St. Louis. It was originally intended to run all the way to Cherry, but we ran a little short on time. In general, 14th Street was pretty clean except when it nears a few large apartment complexes. I will get the last little pice before Cherry tomorrow morning. You can see below some before and after pictures. You can also see how many fireworks were set off last night on a single street and I threw in one creative use of drought resistant landscaping.

I'm about to appear on Blog Talk Radio with Niama Williams, so I'll let the pictures I took tell the story today.

Meeting to Address Increased Violence and Accompanying Social Media Threats

The Long Beach Ministers Alliance and local Neighborhood Community Group, “Anaheim, Orange, Cherry, 7th” (AOC7) will host a meeting with the Long Beach Police Departments Gang Division to receive updates on the recent threats of violence on social media.

Over the last two weeks, there has been an increase in social media threats supposedly originating from the East Side Longo’s.

The Long Beach Ministers Alliance, AOC7, other leadership groups and the community have taken these potential threats seriously.

As a result, the Long Beach Ministers Alliance has requested the Long Beach Police Department provide a “real time” update to the concerned community.

Alliance President Gregory Sanders stated, “I recently sat down with Commander Robert Luman to discuss the anxieties our community is experiencing as a result of these escalating rumors. The meeting was extremely productive. And although the statistics reveal a recent wave of shootings, it didn’t appear they were directly connected to the surge of threats being volleyed by social media instigators. After my conversation with Commander Luman, we agreed, the best course of action would be to address our apprehensive citizens directly”, Sanders concluded. [Related Press-Telegram article]

The ‘update” meeting will be held Tuesday night, July 7, 2015 at 6:00 PM. The location of the meeting is: Temple Baptist Church, 2825 E. 10th Street, Long Beach, California 90804.

The entire community is invited to attend.

According to Sanders, “the design of this meeting will be different than our previous “town hall” meetings. What I mean by that is, this meeting is not a forum to address Police and community tensions such as hiring practices, officer involved shootings and other issues. We would like to maximize this connection by specifically addressing these latest gang rumors and threats. We would like people to leave with an increased sense of awareness and confidence.”

Brief Safety Update: There was limited unreported tagging on 07/3/15 early morning, after midnight. There was reported theft/ property crime on Cherry, between 10th and PCH. There have also been a lot of vehicle or thefts from cars close to PCH and Sherman this month.Meeting to Address Increased Violence and Accompanying Social Media Threats

All Fireworks Are Illegal In Long Beach

All ‪#‎Fireworks‬ are ILLEGAL in Long Beach City! Starting today you can get FREE yard signs like this one at Fire Headquarters from 7:30am-4:30pm on 3205 Lakewood Blvd. and at the Neighborhood Resource Center from 10:00am-7:00pm on 100 W. Broadway, suite 550. Help us keep our community safe this ‪#‎4ofJuly‬!

July 4th Clean Up: Junipero and 14th: 8am