Stand Against Violence Tonight at Rosa Park's Park

STAND AGAINST VIOLENCE IN LONG BEACH TONIGHT 4.21.16

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The community surrounding 17th street and Alamitos Avenue are prepared to demonstrated a rapid response to the latest occurrence of violence in that area.

On Monday night, four young men were the victims of violence. Three of the victims are still in serious conditions and one young nineteen year old died. Young Delhan Jackson should be planning his next birthday or his future. Instead, his young son will have to adjust to life without his father and another mother is left to collect the fragments of her unfulfilled expectations of who her son could have grown up to become.

Enough Is Enough!

How many young men and women nationwide will have to be eulogize as a result of the senseless violence cities around the United States are experiencing. In Long Beach, California, communities are galvanizing themselves to launch a sustainable strategy to interrupt end the violence.

Sherrell Weatherton, mother of Delhaun stated; “We want black lives to matter to black lives. Anyone can pick up a gun but it takes heart to do the right thing.

On Thursday evening, April 21st 2016, Sherrell, her family, community stakeholders, Clergy and City official will meet at Rosa Parks Park to challenge the neighbor and community to help turn the tides of violence against each other.

As a result of this latest incident, The Long Beach Ministers Alliance and Los Angeles Civil Rights Association, are launching a Violence Interruption Project called: “#awakenlb.”

#awakenlb” is a movement to activate, articulate and mediate.

The goal is three-fold.

To activate the community to engage existing violence prevention processes and mechanisms currently being provided through he city and private sectors.

Become more articulate regarding the authentic needs of their particular community for policing, support, employment and housing.

To champion and mediate proactive conversations between potential violence perpetrators.

When: Thursday April 21, 2016

Where: Rosa Parks Park, 15th and Alamitos, Long Beach, California

Time 7:00 PM

The entire community is invited as well as encouraged to attend.

#awakenlb is the beginning of a movement that will eventually cover and benefit every impacted corridor in the city of Long Beach.

Josie and I have Neighborhood Leadership tonight or we'd absolutely be there.

Community Walk Results: 03/21/2016: 11:00pm - 12:00am

Community Walk: 03/19/2016: 11pm to 1am

There was a community walk/ patrol through the MacArthur Park Neighborhood on Friday. Here's what we noticed. There was some suspicious activity. The most was a van with plates from Toyota of Huntington Beach hanging out in the lot of Cherry Donuts for over two hours. They appeared to be handing things off in small plastic bags to other cars. There were two passengers. A hale Hispanic driver and a female Hispanic passenger wearing a white hood. The van had a tan stripe along the center and Toyota of Huntington Beach Plates. There was a stocky male Hispanic in orange who seemed to be keeping watch. This is an issue because the van was seen at LB Ice a day later. If you see this van in the neighborhood, keep a close eye on it. The rest of the results are on the graphic above. Everything that Go Long Beach could handle was reported. There aren't enough details for the other suspicious activity to do anything other than keep an eye on those areas.

BBQ April 16th, 2016: 3pm - 6pm in MacAthur Park

Wednesday Safety Watch: Early Trends/ Downtown Trends

This map matches what I saw on Tuesday. Downtown is where things are most concentrated right now and most of the activity there appears to be trending East. There was a community walk. patrol tonight. Here's the path we took and what we noticed.

 

The Big Vision Board

Using the Vision Boards We Love Long Beach provided for the 2nd annual City Wide Breakfast, we wanted to compile a graphic of all the suggestions that various neighborhoods gave more creating more of a community bond between neighbors. The fonts/ colors represent the various neighborhoods that took pictures of their vision boards. Please let us know anything they left out in the comments below.

MacArthur Park's 1st City Wide Breakfast: Updated

Thank you to We Love Long Beach for the kind donations, the neighbors who came out, Wrigley Community Neighborhood Groupp for the help organizing and Tania Morales for the additional support in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood's first City Wide Breakfast.

It's hard to read but hear were the suggestions: 

• A neighborhood grocery store
• Shuttles for seniors - People with no cars
• More neighborhood events
• Speed bumps for cars turning off PCH
• Neighborhood cleaning
• Neighborhood watch
• Game day 
• Board game pot lucks 
• Neighborhood Olympics.

Neighborhood Expansion: Watching Over Wrigley

Neighborhood Expansion is when this site/ MacArthur Park will be doing three things to look out for neighboring communities including: mapping crime trends, aiding in clean ups and doing Go Long Beach Runs for that neighborhood. As of today it moves from being a response This week MacArthur Park is keeping an eye on Wrigley in support of Josephine A Villaseñor and her Wrigley Community Watch Page.

This map shows some crime trends in the Wrigley area last week. We are focusing on South Wrigley, Central Wrigley and Wrigley Heights. We also included the other side of Pacific all the way to Atlantic, because that's where some of the trends begin.

Clearly there are a lot of thefts and robberies trending towards Veteran's Memorial Park. They seem to converge around 27th Street and Pine. Please keep an eye around the Park, Pine and on 27th Street. There were several incidents where the arrow converges on Sunday, so be extra vigilant over the weekend.

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#SupportJosephine

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It appears a trend of breaking and enterings is moving up Oregon Avenue towards Wrigley Heights. There is also a trend of thefts from cars and burglaries along Hill Street and Magnolia that moves East. A similar trend starts at Oregon and PCH and moves North East. So far, this week the map [from Sunday to Wednesday] looks good. But based on what I am seeing here the four places to keep your eyes on are Oregon Avenue, just south of Veteran's Memorial Park, Hill Street and PCH. 

There will be two more phases for this week's Neighborhood Expansion. Tomorrow, Josie and I will do a Go Long Beach Run and a Patrol through Wrigley. We will be cataloging all the tagging and dumped items for future reference. The tagging is a good clue of where things are about to go bad. This coming Sunday we will host a small clean up from 23rd Street and Chestnut, which will move up towards PCH. That clean up will begin at 8am. Everyone is welcome to join in. 

Next week, on Wednesday we start the same three steps that we did this week for Wrigley for another neighborhood, within District Six. #SupportJosephine

Sunday Safety Update 11/28/2015 to 12/05/2015

Disclaimer: Please note these maps are meant to show which direction crime is trending, areas to keep an extra eye on and places to remain vigilant in order for Central Long Beach residents to remain safe. That said, previous trends don't guarantee future trends will repeat in the same direction and patterns. Also, an absence of crime in one area, does not guarantee an absence in the future.

The darker the arrow, the stronger the trend.

There is increased gang tagging in the neighborhood, it will be reported the day it appears. There are also increased dumped items along 17th Street and 15th. On the bright side, the trees have all been trimmed on 17th, 15th and 14th leading to a much brighter neighborhood. We'll be pressuring the city to do the vertical streets next.

So this week, in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood, there was a continued drop off in crime.The pattern hasn;t changed much from the midweek report. There were a trend of breaking and entering around Walnut and PCH trending south west. These have stopped. Most of the crimes we are seeing are car thefts or thefts from cars. 

So now is a real good time to keep your cars locked and safe.

The patterns to be concerned about are right outside the neighborhood. There is a trend of car thefts that move south east towards Alamitos and 15th. Keep cars locked on Alamitos Avenue between PCH and Anaheim. Also, just below us to the south east there is a lot of car thefts in Cerritos Village around Lincoln Elementary. The trend is week but appears to start out at Alamitos and branch out both north east and north west. That same pattern repeats around a block up. 

Right outside Orizaba park there is also a trend of car thefts that is working its way down to the corner of our neighborhood at Anaheim and Junipero. These thefts are definitely moving towards Cambodia Town East, as defined by Next Door.

The Neighborhood Coalition & Community Watch Program
This Sunday: 12/13/2015 @ Fox Coffee House
437 W Willow St, Long Beach, California 90806

Josie and I We're are bringing together as many Central Long Beach neighborhoods together as possible to discuss bringing Safe Passage to more of LBUSD, a better & more structured format for community watches and some basic safety tips. Community Watch Start up packets will be available for all who attend. We will also be talking about Holiday safety, gang related issues, events going on in Wrigley and to get to know each other. Everyone is Welcome here  

We'll be giving away starter kits, flash lights, pocket guides for homeless services in Long Beach as well as a lot of valuable information. When you arrive tell Josie, "MacArthur Park Rules."

Events Page

https://www.facebook.com/events/1517150488582460/

Clean Up This Saturday 12/12/2015: 8am. 1744 Gaviota

There will be a clean up this Saturday at 1744 Gaviota. A LARGE DUMPSTER will be available, so you can get rid of items too large for regular pick up. The street tackled will be Gaviota from PCH to 15th. Clean up starts at 8am. Food and water will be provided.

Wednesday Safety Watch: Neighborhood Expansion

What the map shows is a steep drop in crime this week within the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. There were some assaults just outside of the AOC7 to the west heading North East into the Poly/ Central neighborhood. Be real cautious in this area as there was a homicide there not long ago. The two for one were car thefts at 11th and Molino, this trends towards a robbery just outside our neighborhood towards vandalism at 14th and Dawson.

There is increased crime in the Franklin/ Altimois Beach area. Be aware of thefts begining at 7th and Almond that trend South West towards Altimois Blvd and the beach. Also the property damage in and around Franklin occured on Monday, which is incidentally the first day the students were on break.

There is increased crime in Central Wrigley, specifically along Cedar. These are mostly car thefts that begin at 9pm or later. If you're in the area pleas join Wrigley Community Neighborhood Group to stay in the loop on Wrigley crime trends.

Off the map there are also a high volume of assaults taking place west of Alamitos Blvd. Please be cautious around Myrtle Avenue and 7th Street, especially when you are on 7th between Long Beach Blvd and Atlantic Ave.

Neighborhood Expansion Permanence Begins With A Wrigley Safety Watch

The Wrigley Community Watch Page a page for businesses and residents to post what is happening in the Wrigley Community. It's neighborhood surveillance program or group in which residents keep watch over each others' homes, patrol the streets, etc. 

In less than six months is has grown from just one to over thirty central Wrigley neighbors keeping an eye on each other and their neighborhood in an attempt to help prevent crime and protect neighbors.

Like this page to participate. This site will begin adding some neighboring communities and their watches with an Internet Watch to help inform those Central Long Beach Neighborhoods where eyes should be focused. In other words, Neighborhood Expansion is about to become a permanent thing instead of a response to bad things happening outside the MacArthur Park Border. ‪#‎SupportJosephine‬

https://www.facebook.com/wrigleyneighborhoodwatch/

Sunday Safety Update: 11/08/2015 to 11/14/2015

Disclaimer: Please note these maps are meant to show which direction crime is trending, areas to keep an extra eye on and places to remain vigilant in order for Central Long Beach residents to remain safe. That said, previous trends don't guarantee future trends will repeat in the same direction and patterns. Also, an absence of crime in one area, does not guarantee an absence in that same area later on. as well. The map has a slightly new feature. The darker the red arrow, the more predictive the trend.

This safety update has some bad news. Unfortunately, on Tuesday 11/10/2015 at about 9:10pm there was a homicide at Gundry and 14th Street. There is a string of assaults trending that direction. There is a suspect in custody. Thank you to the Long Beach Police. Here is the original article on the shooting.

A 19-year-old man was shot and killed in North Long Beach late Monday, police said today. The shooting was reported at 11:02 p.m. Monday in the 1200 block of East 52nd Street, near Orange Avenue, Long Beach Police Department Lt. David Faris said. - Read the Full Story.

The victim's father identified him as 26-year-old Jeffery Keo, a Poly High School graduate. The family came to the United States from Cambodia in 1984, living in the Bay Area and Southern California. This is a link to the Go Fund Me, for help with the family pay for their son's funeral. Please support them.

There's also a string of auto thefts trending towards the south end of MacArthur Park. Also the auto thefts around Rotary Centennial Park are moving towards 17th Street. The auto thefts starting at Orizaba Park trend the same direction. Please reread how to protect yourself from car theft if you reside near either park.

Also, in the attack on France that killed 300, people a CSLB student was killed. The university will hold a vigil at 4 pm on Sunday to mourn Gonzalez’s passing and to grieve for all the victims of the atrocious attack. More information about the vigil will be shared as details are finalized.

Update 11/15/2015: Major tagging last night. 15th and Walnut, south east side of the intersection on 15th. Also, the north end of Fire Station Ten was tagged. The taggers used green paint, and went all the way from the north end of the building to south along the fense, behind some trees. They would have needed to spend some time there. It likely happened after 9pm. Keep a community watchful eye on 15th to Anaheim and Rose to Peterson. If you see tagging in process call 911.

The Next Community Watch Meetings Are On:

Willmore Neighborhood
Thursday, November 19th
7 – 9 pm
Drake Park Community Room
951 Maine Ave

Linden-Roosevelt Neighborhood
Monday, December 7th
7 – 9 pm
Roosevelt Elementary Room A101
1574 Linden Ave  

There Will Likely Be Four Candidates Running For 6th District

Midweeek Safety Map: 11/11/2015

There seems to have been a shooting tonight. I know the helicopters were over Anaheim/ Hoffman/ Walnut and 10th. Here are early trends. There will be a Go Long Beach Run tomorrow. All dumped items will be reported and all tagging will be removed. 

There was also a homicide in North Long Beach last night at Orange and 52nd that left a 19 year old murdered. Here are the details.  And here are details including the sketch of a suspect in a 1975 homicide of a Long Beach police officer. 

Here's the update on last night's shooting at 14th and Gundry. While Swat closed down the intersections of Walnut to the south and Gundry to the north, no suspect is yet in custody. Go Long Beach Runs have started as far east as the Washington Neighborhood to MacArthur Park. Keep your eyes open on Anaheim and Ceda,/ Locust and 16th, Pine and 16th and Long Beach Blvd and 16trh. More details to come as I learn them

Also, we will be getting out park rangers back. If City Council can afford a billion dollar pool in Bellmont Heights you can afford to keep Central Long Beach safe. 

Community Watch meetings start today.

Washington Neighborhood
Wednesday, November 11th
6 – 8 pm
The Guidance Center
1301 Pine Ave

Willmore Neighborhood
Thursday, November 19th
7 – 9 pm
Drake Park Community Room
951 Maine Ave

Linden-Roosevelt Neighborhood
Monday, December 7th
7 – 9 pm
Roosevelt Elementary Room A101
1574 Linden Ave 

Sunday Safety Update: 09/27/2015 to 10/03/2015

This week's map shows that inside the MacArthur Park Neighborhood we saw a nice improvements this week. There were only three reported incidents inside our borders and two them were a stolen care being found. One was an assault on the north end of MacArthur Park itself. There was a build up of tagging along Anaheim trending West. It will all be dealt with within the next two days. Because there is another clean up scheduled for the east end of our neighborhood on Saturday, we will also do an extensive Go Long Beach run for all of the MacArthur Park Neighborhood before that clean up begins.

Now, on the other side of Old Zaferia Way there is a serious build up of auto thefts that are clearly trending out way. This is a very clear pattern, and there have been almost no car thefts on the west end of Old Zaferia Way for almost three weeks. Please keep cars locked and safe anywhere near Orizaba Park and Rotary Centennial Park. In the mean time, reread How to Keep Your Car Safe, as the constant reminders seem to helping bring down overall car thefts. 

In what is defined as Cambodia Town East on Next Door there is a serious build up. In order to help quash it, I am declaring Neighborhood Expansion and temporarily placing Cambodia Town East within our borders for the next two weeks. Because of this, a Go Long Beach Run will be done in the area to get all tagging and dumped items out of the area. 

That kind of attention to detail, does seem to help settle things down quickly. 

There were shootings on 09/29/2015 and 10/06/2015 outside our neighborhoods.  Here are the details

2600 Delta Street. A barrage of bullets and people scrambling for cover is how witnesses described a Long Beach shooting that they say left two innocent bystanders critically injured. Witnesses said they heard as many as twenty shots just as McCraw, riding his bike, stopped to chat with a friend on this street corner. Investigators are not releasing many details, but gang detectives are on the case. Two men (adults) were shot tonight (Sept. 29) in West Long Beach in the 2600 block of Delta Ave. (just north of Willow St. between the 710 freeway and Santa Fe. Ave., 7th Council district.)  More detail

1900 Caspian Ave: A man was hospitalized in critical condition today after a Long Beach shooting that may have been gang-related, police said. The shooting occurred in the 1900 block of Caspian Avenue around 9:45 p.m. Monday, said Long Beach police Lt. Dave Faris. The victim was shot once in the lower torso.

Be safe West Long Beach. 

We may do an additional Go Long Beach Run in that area, providing we have the time. If you haven't already joined Next Door to connect with your neighbors, please consider it. it's a great way to use social media to bring your neighborhood together for good.

What Makes A Good Neighbor?

What makes a good neighbor? Here are some accomplishments that earned people this title on Next Door.

* One neighbor was able to petition the city to demolish an old, unsafe, abandoned apartment building. In its place, he created the Edgerton Community Garden.

^ Another neighbor saw his neighbor’s home on fire, he didn’t hesitate. He jumped into action, calling the Austin Fire Department and saving both his neighbors and their beloved home.

* A Florida neighborhood started a nonprofit called Neighbors Helping Neighbors, collecting usable furniture, household goods, and clothing for anyone who may need the items.

* While they are not on the list, I would like to throw an honorable mention to the AOC7, for hosting a literacy fair that got 10,000 books out to neighborhood kids in my own area.

^ A Tennessee neighbor was nominated for beautifying areas in their Sylvan Park neighborhood. He has planted new trees, plants and flowers for others to enjoy. He also waters, gardens and encourages other neighbors to join in.

* After a brutal attack in Oakland, CA a neighbor and his wife used Nextdoor to invite neighbors to a BBQ potluck. Nearly 100 neighbors showed up, and it was an opportunity for Nextdoor neighbors to strengthen bonds within the neighborhood.

There are about ten more stories on Next Door. I do encourage you to join as it's a great way to keep in touch with your neighbors.

To join: 

https://nextdoor.com/invite/uqgtkpbrkbpqenumrsnx

This full story: 

https://blog.nextdoor.com/2015/09/22/announcing-nextdoors-2015-good-neighbor-award-winners/

The Ready Long Beach Recap: 2015

Zombie Walk: Long Beach CERT demonstrates basic triage

C.E.R.T. stands for Community Emergency Response Team. It is a core group of volunteers trained by FEMA and the local Fire Department to help in disaster situations when police or fire get overwhelmed. We were trained in putting out small fires, light search and rescue and basic wound treatment.

During the first power failure CERT was activated to get water to seniors who were residing on the top floors of downtown high rises apartment complexes.

On 09/19/2015 CERT held it's annual Ready Long Beach fair. This is an event when police, fire, CERT volunteers, the Red Cross, Southern California Edison came together to help Long Beach prepare a little better for natural disasters that may be unavoidable. 

You can find a handout that spells out how to slowly prepare yourself over time entitled, 21 Weeks to Prepare, online at the Red Cross Website.

The event included two helicopters close up

At the event Southern California Edison shared things I did not know, for instance the main power lines are 4000 volts and are not insulated. I would never have guessed that something carrying so many volts would not be insulated.

At Ready Long Beach, the American Red Cross was on hand to teach. The Long Beach Police Volunteer Unit was on hand to share safety tips for seniors, general safety tips for the public and information on effective home safety alarms. CERT, had a stage to demonstrate basic triage techniques. 

In all, we conservatively estimate there were about 1500 people who attended the fair, and around 126 volunteers. In addition to all this the event featured food vendors, earth quake simulations and a bounce house in the shape of a sunken ship, just for the kids as well as a Sesame Street Puppet show to teach them basic disaster preparedness as well.

You can find a larger album of pictures at the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Page on Facebook.

Sunday Safety Update: 08/30/2015 - 09/05/2015

You will notice that there are assaults and thefts that start at 14th and Gaviota and trend South West. While there isn't a lot happening in our neighborhood, that assault was a big incident. It happened on Thursday: 09/03/2015 at 5:47am. 

Long Beach police are investigating a possibly gang-related shooting in the MacArthur Park neighborhood early Thursday. Officers responded to a call of shots fired around 5:47 a.m. near 1400 Gaviota Avenue. Officers learned that a man was driving in the area when he was shot at by male suspects who were on foot on the street, Pratt said. The victim’s vehicle was hit by gunfire but he was not struck. There were no reports of any injuries. The case is being investigated as possibly gang-related. - Read the article

This shooting was not fatal. That said, after it happened we made plans to clean Gaviota south of 15th Street this week. We are currently half done. This is the second shooting in Long Beach this week, the first happened two days earlier St. Mary's two days earlier. A subject is in custody.

One thing I have noticed is increased activity in the neighborhood both at night and during the day. Please keep an eye on all of Gaviota from Anaheim to PCH; there was a lot of loitering, even at the north end of Gaviota last night, I have not seen in the past. Also notice, the car thefts around Orizaba and Rotary Centennial Park haven't restarted yet, but be prepared. 

Also, keep a close eye around 10th and Alamitos. There was a shooting very close to that area a few weeks ago, and there is still a lot of activity in that area, as we speak. We have also asked for no loitering signs, where there is excessive amounts of evening activity that may be unsafe as well as No Parking Over 6' on streets, like Orange and Gundry. that are currently overrun by trailers leaving their trash in the streets.

We've gotten some of the no loitering signs put up and are waiting on the parking signs. 

Break Down Of Tonight's Community Meeting On Starting Neighborhood Watches

There was an hour and a half meeting today at the Mark Twain Library centered on starting a neighborhood watch. Community watches are started when a small group of neighbors get together. One of those members attends there Division Leadership Forums, which take place bimonthly, and passes on what they learn to other community members within their watch. The next Leadership Forum is Wednesday 08/26/2015 and the topic will be gangs.

The questions at the meeting about starting meetings centered around what to do when neighbors do not get along and how to handle communication difficulties when neighbors speak different languages. First remember sometimes reaching out to your neighbors is how these issues are best dealt with. And if your common ground includes a safer neighborhood, there's a good chance that some of those differences will seem less important in the long run. When trying to meet your neighbors for the first time, it's recommended to start small like reaching out to your own apartment complex first, before reaching out to a greater network of neighbors. 

Neighborhoods can use events like National Night Out as an opportunity to meet more neighbors. National Night Out is a community-police awareness-raising event in the United States, held the first Tuesday of August. Texas and Florida have the option to use the alternate date of the first Tuesday in October to avoid hot weather While National Night Out has passed this year, those speaking at the meeting remind us it's really easy to hold a free event, like the potlucks that often take place in Wrigley, and use that as an opportunity to say hello to the people living next door.

What do you do if you and your neighbors don't speak the same language?

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ឧទ្យាន បិទ នៅពេលព្រលប

Do you know what this says? If Google Translator is correct, it's "The park closes at dusk," in Khmer. It was correctly pointed out at the meeting because all the signs in MacArthur Park are exclusively in English a good portion of MacArthur Park/ Whittier residents would not know the park's closing time. In other words, be sensitive to the fact that language barriers may prevent others from having the same information you do, especially when reaching out to your neighbors.

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On a more general level, the attending police did remind everyone that the West Division is the largest division in Long Beach with 225 officers assigned to the area. There are four resource officers that can handle more long term problems such as nuisance buildings. Additionally, there are two Quality of Life officers who spend a great deal of time helping the neighborhood homeless residents to get back on their feet. For anyone west of Cherry and South of the 405 you would get a hold of one of those resource officers by emailing LBPBWest@LongBeach.Gov. Since part of this neighborhood, as defined by NextDoor is east of Cherry, you would simply change the word "West" in that email address to east and then send the same mail.