District Six Primary: Josephine Villasenor: 04/12/2016

First Clean Up of 2015: Gundry PCH to 15th Done

This morning we had our first neighborhood clean up of 2016 along Gun dry from PCH to 15th is finished. I will say Gundry was very well kept. At least one alleyway looked very well maintained. We will get 15th to Anaheim soon and be partnering with Wrigley to clean Chestnut from 23rd heading towards Willow tomorrow at 8am.

Also, don't forget the City Wide Breakfast will be held at 1744 Gaviota, on 02/20/2016. All the neighborhood is invited. #SupportJosephine

Rennovation Begins at MacArthur Park

The following post was from Jim Ruggirello at the Cultural Center of MacArthur Park on Next Door: "The long-awaited and much-needed renovation of the main building at MacArthur Park, the home of Homeland Cultural Center, will begin Monday, September 28. The entire building will be shut down for a week for asbestos abatement. During that time some classes will be held in the Manazar Gamboa Theater, others will be cancelled. After that, work will begin on the room that used to house the Mark Twain Library and most of our regular schedule will resume. The entire project, including work on the rest of the building, the playground, and the restrooms, should be complete by the end of the year."

At the 6th and 7th District Budget meeting earlier this year Andrews stated that there should be enough money left over to renovate the restrooms. Bare in mind, the entire budget for this project was provided by the state of California. The City of Long Beach is not contributing to the restoration of MacArthur Park. I would encourage all neighborhood residents to visit all nearby parks. It is very eye-opening to see how much money the city will invest in the neighborhoods where Central Long Beach residents do not live. Compare the civic center at Drake Park to the one at MacArthur Park. Compare the condition of the streets in Bellmont Heights to the conditions anywhere in Central Long Beach. What you will quickly learn, is for Central Long Beach it's a battle to get a pothole filled, a tree trimmed or a mattress picked up. In Bellmont Heights, the city will build what is nearly a billion dollar pool.

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

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!

Sunday Safety Update 06/01/2015 to 06/14/2015

So, we start with the bad news. There was a homicide at 17th and Altimos on 06/05/2015. It took place around 10pm.

Police responded to two similar calls Friday, both for young men shot in the upper chest, both ending in death

The calls came within two hours of each other, according to Long Beach Police Department press statements.

In the first incident, police were called about 10 p.m. to the 1200 block of E. 17th Street. Anthony Holston of Long Beach had been struck in the upper body by gunfire, police said. He was transported to a local hospital, where was pronounced dead.

Police believe Holston had become involved in a dispute with other men, though they don’t know how many, according to Long Beach police.

The dispute escalated and there was an exchange of gunfire, officials said. The suspect or suspects remain outstanding.

The incident is being investigated as possibly gang-related, police said.

Anyone with information regarding the first incident on 17th Street is asked to contact Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Hugo Cortes and Oscar Valenzuela at (562) 570-7244.

Anonymous tips for both crimes may be submitted by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), texting TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or visiting lacrimestoppers.org.

I have looked for suspect pictures or more information on the story and have, so far, not been able to find any. This was the second homicide in Long Beach that night, the other one being in North Long Beach.

Now notice what the map above shows, the loitering and tagging are all trending north east. They either begin at Altimos and 17th or Walnut and 14th street. The pattern is very obvious. The loitering and the tagging and the fireworks all tends to begin around 9pm. 

The loitering at 17th and Altimos, at times exceeds twenty people. While law enforcement has cracked down, it hasn't stopped and many of the loitering parties are drinking hard liquor from Ritchie's Liquor Market, at the corner of the intersection or hanging out in front of the laundry mat south of it, after it's closed. This liquor store, called an Alcoholic's Disney World in one Yelp review, is the starting point for most all of 17th street's problems, which tend to often follow it all the way to Gardenia.

Do you notice the exact same pattern here? All activity trends north east. It usually begins about 9:00pm. The loitering around 14th and Walnut is upwards of twenty people, and the tagging follows Walnut right now to Anaheim street and across 14th, where earlier tagging has been crossed out and written over. You will also notice a pattern of incidents on Anaheim leading into the vehicle recoveries on the east end of the MacArthur Park neighborhood.

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All activity in both maps trends north east and centers at 14th and Walnut.

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If you look at the two maps side by side, you can see a pretty clear central starting point on both weeks just south of Walnut and 14th.  

In response to increased crime, there will be an additional safety report on Wednesday of this week. Also, the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Association and the resource center will continue working even harder to keep all neighborhood resident's safe. We will also be creating a safety tool kit for this website. This will be followed by tool kits to increase resident's access to educational resources and after school and summer programs for kids.

The Fireworks Have Began: A Reminder

Sunday Safety Update: 5/17/2015 - 05/24/2015

Crime is clearly up more than 100%, and that should not be a surprise. Most of that crime is car theft. Virtually all of it is property crime. 

I mentioned the increase in car thefts as soon as I saw them. What I want you to pay attention to now is the blue stars. This was all East Side Longo vandalism that remained unreported to the police. You will notice it trends down and points towards where most of the crimes are being committed. The main passage way is the alley from behind the U-Haul where the robbery occurred. Other passages include Walnut, Gaviota and Rose, all of which connect PCH to Anaheim.

These crimes are almost always on a street that connects two major roads like Anaheim and PCH or Orange and Cherry.

This means bad people are doing bad things. That said, they are marking their territory and that should give you a clue as to the direction they are headed.Now, while all tagging in MacArthur Park has been reported and is scheduled for clean up via the Go Long Beach Also, keep in mind those who do it cannot be prosecuted unless a police report is filed.

How to deal with graffiti

1. Remove it and remove ASAP
2. Use www.golbcity.com/
3. Call (562) 570-2773
4. Read more suggestions here.

The Go Long Beach App is this simple, snap a picture on your phone, send it over the app and that graffiti will be down in a day or two.

Until crime decreases again, there will be an additional report on Wednesday. Also please follow this link one more time to keep your car safe. While the contents of the article are common sense, I find myself doing the things it tells me not to almost daily, like leaving my phone or digital camera in the car while I step outside to get something to eats. In the mean time, please keep eyes peeled in all places. 

Remember, this is your neighborhood. You have the right to feel safe and know your personal property belongs to you.

Also, while this is bad news, remember we were also crime free for nearly a month. So this can be a very safe place to live, if we decide that is what we want it to be.

The Neighborhood Safety Page has been revamped to classify the links in order that they will be a little more useful. 

Sunday Safety Update: #5

MacArthur Park Safety Update 5:  There were a few stolen cars on the 5th, most of them south of 15th street. Keep an eye on the cars at heavily trafficked intersections like 15th and Walnut, and Peterson or Grundy close to the park. There were also two incidents on Rose close to the metro station. Remember one side is not lined with any homes so it's only watched from across the street. 

The map above is from April 4th until April 19th 2015. A good majority of the vehicle thefts took place on a Saturday or on the days just before or after. Also, in a lot of cases, more that one vehicle is stolen in more than one place on the same day.

Notice you can see the pattern of burglaries on Anaheim before the city announced anyone was arrested for them.  You can also see a string of assaults clustering around Altimos Blvd and Anaheim. So keep your eye open for strangers when you're walking alone close to the Salvation Army Thrift Store. Everything that happened there was between 11am and 6pm, so don't assume you only have to pay close attention when walking through the area at night.

Because the MacArthur Park neighborhood was crime free for about a week, I am relinking to the neighborhood's biggest problem, the article about preventing car thefts. The Long Beach PD also has a ton of articles on crime prevention. Since Anaheim was having a problem with burglary, here is their publication on burglary prevention. If you see something suspicious the non emergency number is: (562) 435-6711. You can find all other important numbers in the District Six Phone Book.

* Safety Updates will be published every Sunday breaking down the MacArthur park into noticeable patterns of criminal activity. The purpose is make patterns clear so residents know what to keep their eyes open for to best prevent them.

New District 6 Phone Book

A one page phone list was created for anyone residing in Long Beach's 6th District. If the number is left out, there is a link to where you can find it.