Sunday Safety Update: 03/20/2016 - 03/27/2016

Disclaimer: So, first I apologize for how long it's taken to get this up, The Crime Reports Website was down for much of January. I did talk to the director of Media Relations at a public safety meeting and tell our neighborhood resource officer, they weren't aware it wasn't updating. Just a reminder these are trends, and the presence of crime in one area in the past doesn't guarantee it will reappear in that area in the future.

Here are this week's trends in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. 
 
The biggest story is the one the map doesn't tell.

There is a marked increase in thefts and auto thefts within the neighborhood. Just South of MacArthur Park there is a cluster that induces drugs, assault, breaking and entering and kidnapping. This would be east of Orange and West of Alamitos, south of Anaheim. If you are close to that area keep am eye out. There is no neighborhood association in the area. The closest is AOC7 and Craftsman Historic District which operates east of Orange. The kidnapping was on Thursday at about 3pm.

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We support the LBPD but are very concerned how much violence is not making the news

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Within our neighborhood auto thefts begin around MacArthur Park and trend North East towards 15th Street. There are also thefts that begin at Cherry and 17th and then trend South West to 15th and Rose. You'll want to keep eyes on Gardenia, Rose, Gaviota and 15th, which is where both trends converge.

The big story the map doesn't tell is actually three stories combined

This closure was the day after the shooting, no word on why it happens

There are three major things that are not making this map. 

#1: Last Monday there was a shooting at Walnut and 15th. Here is the article confirming it. 

Police are investigating a non-injury drive-by shooting that happened near Long Beach's Lincoln neighborhood Monday afternoon, authorities said. Officers responded to a shooting call at 2:40PM on Monday, March 21 on the 1400 block of East 14th Street,

Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) spokesman Brad Johnson said."Officers arrived on scene and found that 2 male adults in a vehicle drove up to a parked car with 3 to 4 subjects inside," said Johnson. "The parties exchanged words, and then there was an exchange of gunfire and both parties fled the scene."

 A few notes, this article incorrectly identifies the neighborhood. The 14 block of East 14th Street is actually the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. But that's just the beginning of some sloppy journalism all around. 

#2: The second example comes the next day when several streets in the same area were shut down as another shooting had occurred around  10 in the morning the next day. Alleys, streets and major arteries were shut down. It was almost impossible to get from 17th Street to Anahiem if you were between Cherry and Orange. Somehow, what caused the shut down never made the news. The only way you know about this was if you saw it.  If it was connected to the earlier shooting, it's really odd this closure would have occurred an entire day later.

#3: Wednesday it gets worse, a lot worse: Thursday, 03/25/16, this story broke: 

Long Beach police are investigating a possible gang-related shooting near the Signal Hill border Wednesday night that involved at least two suspects exchanging gunfire, according to authorities. Officers were dispatched to Walnut Avenue and East Pacific Coast Highway at 8:06pm on Wednesday, March 23 regarding a shots heard call, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) spokesman Brad Johnson said. 

What was left out of this story:

• There were at least thirty shots fired. It could have been as many as fifty.
• There were a lot of calls on this shooting so information wasn't sketchy.
• There were also shots fired around Falcon and 11th.
• This was at least the second shooting in the area that week.
• There were likely crime scenes at MLK Park and the LBCC West Campus
• MLK Park has a reputation as a very dangerous gang hang out
• We did three community walks that week, so we were keeping an eye on things

The fact that nearly thirty shots may have been fired should have been the lead. There were enough details, I am sure the police knew this. There was also no warning for residents even though the two suspects continued to drive through the neighborhood after the shooting took place. What's even odder is the article on this shooting is almost entirely impossible to find when searching recent news on Long Beach area shootings. Usually, when you do a keyword search cross referencing Long Beach with shooting, the most recent appears.. When I do the same here, this shooting isn't on the first few pages of the search. If I add the date or location, I still have trouble finding it. 

We're about to do a Go Long Beach Run and get the dumping and tagging for this week taken care of. I can tell you it's down. But based on that information please keep all eyes open. Keep an eye on your neighborhood and watch out for your neighbors.

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

West Division Leadership Forum 06/23/2015 - In Review

Today there was an hour and a half leadership forum. About fifty West Division residents, business owners and government officials were in attendance. The attendance was somewhat less than the last Leadership Forum. The forum focused on Long Beach's homeless population.

There were three guest speakers from the Multi-Service Center, from Health and Human Services and from the Quality of Life Division of the Long Beach Police. Part of the meeting involved explaining the bi-annual census numbers, which Long Beach is required to collect to receive federal funding related to the homeless population. Those numbers show an 18% decrease in the homeless population between 2013 and 2015. There was also a 42% decrease in the population of homeless vets. This compares to a 12 percent increase in the homeless population in LA.

Disparities between what looks like an increase in the homeless population and the census numbers may be because the city recently cleared the homeless population out of the LA River and the beaches. This pushed a lot of Long Beach's homeless population back into some of the poorer neighborhoods.

Part of the reason for this is Mayor Robert Garcia's direct challenge to put an end to all homeless vets. Another may be the existence of new programs such as VASH: a kind of Section 8 for homeless vets. The Quality of Live division of the LBPD is a proactive policing unit that tries to coordinate resources for Long Beach residents who find themselves on the street. The unit works closely with the Multi Service Center and the Department of Health and Human Resources.

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At the Quality of Life division, we have a goal of no homeless children in Long Beach

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The Quality of Life Division has a wide range of responsibilities that have ranged from helping twenty-year homeless vets find housing to helping homeless people reunite with family. A repeating theme was that no matter how many resources are available, it's very difficult to help anyone who doesn't want help, and that often times, out reach can take years before the homeless person is ready to leave the street. Two other often repeated is that being homeless in itself it isn't a crime.

Usually, when the Quality of Life Division does do out reach they will target specific areas of Long Beach. One day, they may target the parks; another day they may target businesses and on another the beaches. They also stated, they will go out of their way to make sure every child in Long Beach has a home.

Something, that was somewhat counter intuitive was the Quality of Life Division discourages giving money or food to the homeless population as it de-incentives getting help. Instead, they request those who want to help the homeless volunteer in homeless shelters like the Long Beach Rescue Mission or donate to the institutions directly helping them. You can also help the Quality of Life Division of the LBPD by donating to the Long Beach Police Foundation, that directly helps fund it:

www.lbpolicefoundation.org.

There were no other topics touched on at tonight's meeting.

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.