Happy Easter: To The Neighborhood

There Was An Announced Clean Up of 15th Street - Updated

There was an announced clean up of 15th Street from Orange to Walnut. The good news is that 15th Street was significantly cleaner than it was in the past. 32 gallons of trash was removed, and normally that distance would take twice as many bags. 

I will be trying to get the rest of 15th Street tomorrow, if there is time. Because this is Spring Break, which I have off, there will be additional clean ups this week, at least I hope. We'll also try to get a dumpster for larger items soon. Sorry, no before and after pics, I didn't have time.

The Sunday Safety Update will be published tomorrow, with some big news. The Go Long Beach Run was finished with 14 requests. 1 tagging, 9 illegally dumped items and 4 curb repair requests.

We continued this clean up on Easter Sunday and got from Cherry to Gaviota. That only leaves Gaviota to Walnut untouched. We would have gotten more but the alley by the Carneceria took up a lot of space in the can. Below you can see a before an after picture of that alleyway. It was important to clean because gangs do try to congregate there, so that alley in particular needs to look well kept.

 

Ribbon Cutting At MacArthur Park

There was a ribbon cutting ceremony this morning at MacArthur Park. The ceremony featured a speeches from the current Sixth District City Council Man Dee Andrews, the directors of Parks and Rec, local poets and performances from dancers at the Homeland Cultural Center. 

The new playground is cast in vibrant purples, greens and yellows. The varied color scheme was meant to show reverence to the different cultures within the neighborhood. In addition to the renovations to the playground, there were also about $500,000 in renovations to the cultural center where free classes in: Bokator, Hmong Arts Belly Dance, Graf Murals, Youth Writing & Improv, African Dance, Aztec Dance, Cambodian Dance, Hip-Hop Dance, Guitar/Bass and Micronesian Music are held. That list is not exhaustive of all classes held at the theatre.

A break down of exactly where the money came from for the renovations came from will be published around Monday. I have a request in to Parks and Rec for a detailed break down.

The poetry reminded those in attendance that through the theater graffiti has morphed into art. Gangs have morphed into street dance. And that in many cases, the alienated have been given a voice. 

The bad news: There is no money left for the badly needed renovations of the restrooms, which does contradict earlier reports on how far the money would go. 

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

The Wrigley Association: Candidate Forum

Tonight the Wrigley Association hosted a forum between all six District Six City Council Candidates. Unlike the last write up, here I'm simply going share what each said about themselves that stood out in a brief paragraph. The forum was attended by about thirty to forty people. Questions were chosen by the association and by the audience for specific candidates. 

Josephine A Villaseñor hails from Whittier. She became involved in the community after forming the Wrigley Community Watch. Villaseñor who has her BA in business management with an emphasis in Early Childhood Development. She is also a member of the Community Emergency Response Team, a Red Cross Volunteer and a fund raising event coordinator chief for the VIDC at the Veteran's Hospital. When asked how to bring life back into the sixth district, Viillaseñor said her top three goals would be addressing homelessness, public safety and lessening restrictive business environment. For instance, in Signal Hill where license fees are $55 instead of the $400 they are in Long Beach. She also stated if we expected businesses to support our community, our community needs to shop locally and support out businesses. When asked how she'd get along with other members on City Council, Villaseñor replied when I patrol, I patrol Districts 1,2 ,3, 4, 7 and six. I don't see borders, I just see a community.

Erik Miller who asserted the sixth district had not changed since he grew up at 14th and Walnut across from Anioch Church. Miller, who left the neighborhood to get his degree in architecture, would later return to the Wrigley Community. There he became involved in the Gang Reduction Intervention Task Force and Operation Jump Start. He also helped fund the PEACE Basket Ball League. When asked which of Dee Andrew's votes he disagreed with, Erik cited the cutting of funding to Long Beach Police. In order to restore funding, Miller supports the Mayor's one percent sales tax increase. At the forum, if he won the April 12th Primary would first sell that sales tax increase to the public.

Robert Harmon. grew up in Seal Beach. He didn't go to college, he went to war. He's a veteran of Desert Storm who started the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Association. Harmon, who credits himself with driving the gangs out of MacArthur Park, said that to raise funds for police, safety and infrastructure we would need to take a hard look at the city's financial choices. In he end, he called the one percent a bitter pill. Harmon cites deferred maintenance in the district as the reason sand stated we would either pay for it now or pay a lot more later. Harmon, who attended every meeting of the Anaheim Corridor Re-Visioning, had submitted his own Cambodia Town Beatification Project, to several neighborhood stakeholders and stated it could be applied to every Long Beach corridor.

Dee Andrews is a 69 year resident of Central Long Beach. He is the incumbent City Council member in District Six. He has termed out, however the City Charter allows him to seek a third term as a write in candidate. Much of the time Andrews was responding to criticism. Several challengers cited a lack of change in his district during Andrew's tenure. Andrews called this a weak argument that "Ray Charles could see through." When asked why he should be re-elected Andrews stated he had just gotten the ball rolling and would like to be there when  his plans and projects come to fruition. According to Andrews one of the reasons for the budget short fall in past years was an over reliance on income from oil companies. And because of this, some hard choices had to be made.  Without cutting 200 jobs in public safety we might have had to cut 700 jobs that were tied back to the infrastructure.

The Primary Election will be held on April 12th, 2016. You can register to vote withe the City Clerk's office. You can also vote early by mail or in person at the City Clerk's Office. We're still going to cover the race for the LBUD board and the board of college trustees. And there will be a Go Long Beach Run soon. But spoiler alert: Jessica Alvarez, gets our support for LBUSD School Board due to her involvement with bringing Safe Passage to the Westside. We'd like to see it expanded to Franklin and Washington Middle Schools ASAP. That would have a huge impact on safety here in Long Beach, and it would do so very quickly.

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

Coming To The MacArthur Park Neighborhood Soon

Sunday Safety Update: 11/22/2015 to 11/28/2015

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.

So this week, in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood, there was a steep drop off in crime. There is more tagging, both reported and unreported. There is an attempt by the taggers to try and claim Fire Station 10 and the alley behind the U-Haul Station. Because of this, both will be monitored every single day until it stops.

There is a trend of property crime leading into some thefts from cars along the east side of Junipero. I will remind everyone again to keep your cars locked and read this article. While on the phone with a friend who works on Anaheim; she had to shut down the business for theft from a car to get investigated. The car was unlocked. You may think you have nothing of value, but these crooks left with sunglasses. Once they're inside, they don't want to leave empty handed.

Whenever I do clean ups, I find lots of cars with windows open. There were at least 10 on 14th Street last week. Please be very careful with your cars anywhere near Rotary Centennial Park or Orizaba Park, as car thefts and thefts from vehicles tend to cluster there.

There is a much stronger trend of assaults just south west of our neighborhood. If this map is extended a little west, they start to get bad. So please keep safe in the south end of the Poly Neighborhood. Additionally the trend of assaults identified did move east as predicted, and that does make the tagging in the alley behind the U-Haul much less surprising. 

Because of this, an eye will be kept on PCH between Alamitos and Cherry for the next two weeks, whenever possible.

Other Shootings

There has been an officer involvded shooting since the last reported shooing. The suspect is currently in the hospital in stable condition.

Long Beach police officers responding to a call of an assault late Thursday shot a man holding a meat cleaver who turned out to be the person who reported the attack, authorities said Friday.

An officer arrived at a residence in the 300 block of East Sunset Street about 11:20 p.m. after receiving a 911 call, according to a police statement. As the officer approached the front door, “a male exited the residence holding a meat cleaver in a threatening manner and confronted the officer.” - Full Story

The next Community Watch Meeting:

Linden-Roosevelt Neighborhood
Monday, December 7th
7 – 9 pm
Roosevelt Elementary Room A101
1574 Linden Ave   
  
The Central Long Beach Neighborhood Alliance
Community Watch Meeting
12/13/2015
4pm - 7pm
Events Page
Fox Coffee House
425 W Willow St, 
Long Beach, CA 90806

There is also a meeting some people will be attending regarding Long Beach PD wearing body cams. I would have liked to go, but I have three separate meetings on that day. I will still let you know what comes of it.

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.

14th Street Clean Up: Cherry to Walnut Done

There was an announced clean up of 14th Street today in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. We started at Cherry and 14th and got as far as 14th and Walnut. Because, the original intent was to get 14th all the way to Orange, we will be continuing the clean up tomorrow. Some things I notched: #1, the neighbors seem a lot friendlier. #2, the street is much cleaner than last time.

Also, due to the recent wind storm, most of this trash is leaves and palms the city has not picked up yet. So minus that, this is the cleanest I have ever seen 14th. Thank you to Josephine A Villaseñor for plugging the clean up in the Wrigley Community Watch Facebook Group. And thanks to the neighbor on 14th who was kind enough to bring bottled water to me as this clean up was wrapping up.

Update: 14th is now finished from Walnut to Orange. Thanks to the neighbors who showed an interest in getting involved, the ones that brought me bottled water and thanks to the LBPD for dealing with an undressed/ incoherent homeless lady at MacArthur Park who was just out of the hospital and still in hospital attire for showing a level of kindness and dignity that should be a model for all police departments nation wide.

Recap: The MacArthur Park Neighborhood Meeting

Tonight the MacArthur Park Neighborhood hosted its monthly meeting at the Mark Twain Library. The speakers included our neighborhood resource officer, Officer Gabriel Bentanzos and Jason Gallup from Sustainable Long Beach.

A Sustainable Long Beach

The second part of the meeting was a presentation by Sustainable Long Beach. The City of Long Beach Office of Sustainability was created to model leadership and supports practical solutions to improve the environment. Sustainable Long Beach began in 2008 when the City Council decided to go green and in doing so was tasked with developing a Sustainable City Action Plan. In a nutshell, these are attempts to more effectively cut down on waste by more efficiently using city resources. The program offers seven major services, this meeting focused on three of the seven.

Some of programs offered by Sustainable Long Beach include:

1. Free Mulch: As the city  moves away from grass longs to drought tolerant plants, the city has developed a program that delivers free mulch to residents. The mulch comes from city tree trimmings, that were once simply tossed in local landfills. Now instead of throwing the trimmings away, they are shaved down and turned into mulch, which when added to lawns, reduces weeds, adds nutrients to soil, regulates soil temperature and helps retain water.  To be eligible to receive you must be a Long Beach resident and a homeowner.
2. The Civic Garden: This was created to demonstrate how to get the most out of a small growing space. Located at 333 W. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90802. The garden is a great place to learn how to grow your own food in garden containers you create. Urban gardening itself is the idea that citizens can grow food no matter where they live, whether it's a high rise apartment, a tiny condo, or a house with no backyard. In addition to monthly classes in urban garden, you can also learn how to make your own containers to save space, like Earth boxes and vertical planters. 
3. The Rain Barrel Rebate Program: Long Beach Residents are currently eligible to receive rebates of up to $75 per barrel with a maximum of four rain barrels per home. These barrels collect rain for lawn irrigation without relying on the city's water supply. This program is not free, but the rain barrels you  purchase will run about $85 before the rebate. After getting $75 back, you are looking at a 55 gallon rain barrel for about $10. Additionally, the company that handles the rebates is also offering rebates on high efficiency toilets, sprinkler heads and clothes washers. 
   

Finally, Sustainable Long Beach is aggressively plugging the Cool California Challenge. This is basically a competition between twenty-two cities in California trying to outdo each other in saving on their water and energy bills.  Basically, you create an account and begin monitoring your energy and water bills. As the program gives you tips on how to bring those bills down, you earn points by using less energy and spending less money. If you are successful, your energy bills come down. And as you saves money, the city of Long Beach stands to win money which can be used to bring more energy saving programs back here.

A Brief Safety Update: The Shooting

Most of the safety update centered on holiday safety and some updated information on the fatal shooting at 14th and Gundry last week. For those unfamiliar with the shooting,  read the previous safety update. Here are additional details from tonight's meeting. The suspect is a 17-year-old juvenile. Because of this, despite being involved in this murder, he may be out by age 24. Also the suspect may be connected to other shootings in the area. During the shooting, the suspect was originally spotted on Gundry and fled south to 1136 Hoffman. Police are working with property owners to evict any gang members that may be causing long term problems for the neighborhood. 

A lot of the holiday safety information was common sense and has been covered in previous posts. Here's a brief recap. 

As we approach the holiday season, here are some safety tips.

1.  Ship items to a location where they will be personally received, and/or ask a trusted neighbor to collect and hold the item rather than leaving it in a common area.
2.  Request carriers to ship items to their local store or distribution center to be held for pick up.
3. Advise your local post office when you will be out of town so they can hold your deliveries until your return.
4. Track the progress of your anticipated delivery and if you don’t receive it as expected, contact the issuing company, and when possible request proof of delivery.
5. Remove valuables and holiday packages from your vehicle, and don’t use it as a storage area - More tips from the LAPD

MacArthur Park Neighborhood meetings for the MacArthur Park Neighborhood  are every third Tuesday and hosted through the Neighborhood Resource Center. The next meeting, unless the holidays interfere, should be on 12/15/2015 at 5:00pm.

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/

MacArthur Park Neighborhood Meeting: 11/17/2015: 5:00pm

Long Beach residents are invited to the MacArthur Park/Whittier School Neighborhood monthly meeting on Tuesday, November 17, 2015, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain Neighborhood Library located at 1401 E. Anaheim St. in the Community Room.  Free parking is available at the library parking lot.

The Neighborhood Services Bureau in conjunction with the City of Long Beach Office of Sustainability will be holding an informative meeting on simple ways to conserve water, protect the environment, save a few dollars and make the most of  nature’s gifts.

Your attendance is greatly encouraged.  Not only will you gain some valuable saving tips, but you will have the opportunity to participate in the discussion by sharing some personal experiences and ideas with your neighbors.  

• Free Mulch
• CoolCalifornia City Challenge
• Save Money and Make the Most of Nature’s Gifts 

  

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Mark Twain Neighborhood Library (Community Room)

1401 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach

For more information, please call  

Bryant S. Ben at (562) 570-1691 or email bryant.ben@longbeach.gov

Translation will be provided in Khmer and Spanish

 

The City of Long Beach intends to provide reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities. Act of 1990.  If special accommodation is required or to request this information in an alternate format, Please contact Bryant S. Ben at (562) 570-1691, 48 hours prior to the meeting

West Division Leadership Forum: Human Trafficking

There are two major kinds of Human Trafficking. One focuses on sex, the other on slave labor. This month's West Division Leadership Forum, a bi-monthly meeting on community safety focused on this topic. The West Division Leadership Forum is a bi-monthly forum, held on the third Wednesday of the month. The current meeting place for the forum is Grant AME Church at 1129 Alamitos Ave, in Long Beach. The next meeting should be December 20th, 2015.

This is the delayed write up.

Because this is a serious topic, I want to do it some justice. We are talking about a form of slavery here. Because of the seriousness of the topic, I am leaving the other topic of Code Enforcement for another day.  

---

The pimps are revered by boys who hope to grow up with their status

---

The concept of human trafficking reflects a shift in police tactics. In earlier days, law enforcement saw the prostitute as the prime target. Once arrested, police didn't talk to the prostitute and the prostitute didn't talk to the police. These days, the focus has shifted to the pimp. Human trafficking, which is now a felony, has brought much of the focus away from the women bought and sold like commodities, who in many cases are victims of severe emotional, physical and sexual abuse. 

Many of the pimps subjects will be manipulated through fear, abuse and intimidation.

Human trafficking victims have been as young as five years old. There have been more than 27 million victims, 800,000 a year, 244,000 in America and 3000 in LA County alone. The industry itself is a $32 billion industry, with one girl often bringing in $500 a day. In many cases the victims are homeless, emotionally traumatized or mentally ill. They may also rely on drugs, alcohol or lack the ability to meet their own basic needs.

In that sense, human trafficking is a kind of kidnapping based on mental and emotional abuse and manipulation. 

Sex and labor traffickers may find their victims at clubs, on the street, group homes, through mutual friends, malls and after school programs, Within our neighborhoods also be careful of traveling food carts, especially in the downtown and Central Long Beach Neighborhoods.

Often the pimps send other girls into these areas like homeless shelters to recruit for them. And sexual slavery does not just target the poor, but can also affect those who dwell in upper class families where rape may be used as a tool of coercion and blackmail. Pimps have also employed social media as a recruiting tool. Sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Moco Space, the latter is a gaming community I had never heard of until the meeting, have all bean used to lure in new girls.

To help keep their children safe, parents should always discuss how to stay safe online. And they should recognize the warning signs when their children might have taken online conversations too far. The relationship the pimp creates  is based on controlling everything. The pimp decides on where the women he is trafficking can be. They may need his permission to shower or even sleep. In some cases the pimp may threaten not only the girl herself but her entire family. In many cases the trafficker will force their victims to call him "Daddy," the deepen his control.

Many girls find themselves branded, isolated and trapped. They are prevented from having conversations with anyone, with their pimp handling all communication with any potential John or Jane. 

There are warning signs someone may be headed towards a life human trafficking. 

The warning signs include:

• Unexpected truancy
• Signs of physical abuse
• Chronically running away
• Unusual promiscuous behavior
• Withdrawn/ depression and fear
• Inappropriate behavior with other people
• Sudden possession of expensive Jewelry and clothing

If you see these signs in your children, friends or peers be aware what they may mean.

Those who would like to help protect Long Beach from human trafficking are asked to stay educated on the subject and help educate others. This involves not only getting churches and community organizations involved, but working with those community organizations already dealing with the issue like the Saving Innocence Project. It involves teaching potential victims, to walk in pairs, to walk with self confidence and purpose as well as chose your friends wisely. And it involves showing empathy to the people you see on the street. Human traffickers rely on an absence of empathy to create victims.

Also, when you do see something out of place, say something that may lead to help.

Sunday Safety Update: 10/18/2015 to 10/24/2015

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.  

We are beginning a series of community walks through the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. They will take place after 10pm and focus on those areas that currently need the most attention. There will be at least three community walks a week, two during the weekdays and one on the weekend.Tonight's walk saw reduced loitering in the alley behind Anaheim, but the plaza at Walnut and Anaheim is still an issue.

First, neighborhood crime has tapered down, but not far enough. The pattern this week was varied and unpredictable. It does seem robberies, thefts and property crime are trending down the streets of Gaviota and Walbut. Please be extra careful in this area, especially since the police saw fit to put cameras at 14th and Gaviota; clearly something is happening in that area. 

Moreover, police are also investigating a non-injury shooting that happened on Long Beach’s Eastside neighborhood Wednesday night.

Officers were dispatched to Walnut Avenue and Anaheim Street at about 9:45PM on Wednesday, October 21 in regards to a shots heard call, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) spokeswoman Marlene Arrona said. Read the full story

Also notice assaults are trending down Cherry. Be especially careful on Cherry after 8pm and in both mentioned areas around 5am.

There is crime cluster south east of the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. Everything happening there is not trending in any particular direction, so be very cautious around Junipero and Anaheim where it leads into our neighborhood. A lot of the marks on the board above took place on a Sunday, especially the ones close to Rotary Centenial Park, so keep an extra eye open on Sundays.

Finally there were two other shootings out of our neighborhood. One was at MLK and 20th. The other was a fatal shooting at 20th and Magnolia. 

A man was shot to death early Monday morning in the 2000 block of Magnolia Avenue, authorities said.

Long Beach police said the victim, identified as 25-year-old William Tyshoen Davis, was wounded in the upper body.

Long Beach Fire Department paramedics responded and took Davis, who was in critical condition, to a local hospital where he later died, police said in a press release.Read the full story

MacArthur Park will be supporting the community of Wrigley in every manner possible. We will be reporting all tagging and dumped items a long 20th Street in response in an extra Go Long Beach run this weekend.

Community Meetings
  
There will be a community meeting for District Six on Tuesday October 27th at Mark Twain Neighborhood Library. 6pm. The topic will center on public safety including gang activity.

Robert Smith and his staff will host the West Division Leadership Forum Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at 6:00pm. The new location will be 1129 Alamitos, at the Grant AME Church There will be a presentation on human trafficking and a Code Enforcement overview. 

Holiday Safety Meeting - Mark Twain Library 10/20/2015: 5pm

Long Beach residents are invited to the MacArthur Park/Whittier School Neighborhood monthly meeting on Tuesday, October 20, 2015, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain Neighborhood Library located at 1401 E. Anaheim St. in the Community Room.  Free parking is available at the library parking lot.

There Was AOC7 Clean Up This Weekend on 11th Street

This Saturday we didn't clean up MacArthur Park so we could help the AOC7 in their monthly neighborhood clean up. That clean up got 11th, Cerritos, Licoln Elementary, Norman Court and probably two additional tons of trash. Thanks to the AOC7 and all the neighbors who came out to support the clean up. It was a great event that probably took at least three dumpsters worth of trash off the street. 

I still intend to get Ester, Werner and the remainder of Orange this week. Next Saturday, there will also be a clean up on Sherman and 16th street at 8am..

Sunday Safety Update: 10/11/2015 - 10/17/2015

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.  

First, crime is not only up, but it is up significantly for the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. The line up Cherry is partially the result of two shooting that happened in our neighborhood and appear to be gang related. 

Two men were wounded in a shooting at about 5:35 a.m. Wednesday that may have been gang-related, police said.

The unidentified men were sent to a hospital for treatment of wounds described by police as not life-threatening. 

“The preliminary investigation indicated the victims were walking down the street when they were approached by three suspects and shot,” according to a statement from police spokeswoman Nancy Pratt.- Full Story.

The shootings took place around 15th and Cherry. There will be an intense graffiti/ dumped item/ a neighborhood patrol for the next two weeks. There was a lot of graffiti that popped up just prior to this and that seems to be a reliable indication some type of violence is about to occur.

Also notice the patterns of car thefts just outside our neighborhood. It is clearly heading north west. Please keep all cars locked in that area. Reread preventing car theft, especially if you live in that area.

There is renewed loitering in the plaza at Walnut and Anaheim. It had died down, but seems to have picked up. Be very careful in the area because drug activity appears to be happening there as well.

---

Use the Go Long Beach App to remove graffiti, even if you don't live where you see it

---

Also notice along Alamitos there is a trend north east towards 17th street. Because a lot is happening around 17th street, really remain vigilant and keep your eyes out for your neighbors on that street.

As we approach the holiday season, here are some safety tips.

1.  Ship items to a location where they will be personally received, and/or ask a trusted neighbor to collect and hold the item rather than leaving it in a common area.
2.  Request carriers to ship items to their local store or distribution center to be held for pick up.
3. Advise your local post office when you will be out of town so they can hold your deliveries until your return.
4. Track the progress of your anticipated delivery and if you don’t receive it as expected, contact the issuing company, and when possible request proof of delivery.
5. Remove valuables and holiday packages from your vehicle, and don’t use it as a storage area - More tips from the LAPD

Upcoming Safety Meetings: 

Long Beach residents are invited to the MacArthur Park/Whittier School Neighborhood monthly meeting on Tuesday, October 20, 2015, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain Neighborhood Library located at 1401 E. Anaheim St. in the Community Room.  Free parking is available at the library parking lot.  - UPDATED

There will be a community meeting for District Six on Tuesday October 27th at Mark Twain Neighborhood Library!  6pm. I am not sure what the topic will be, last time it was starting a community watch.

Join Commander Robert Smith and his staff for this informative meeting on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at 6:00pm. The new location will be 1129 Alamitos, at the Grant AME Church  We will be having a presentation on Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation; Also a Code Enforcement overview.