Showing posts with label public. Show all posts
Showing posts with label public. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Monday, March 21, 2016
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
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.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Sunday Safety Update: 03/06/16 - 03/13/16
Here are the crime trends for this week in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. The map is almost empty this week. There was property crime that trends towards some auto thefts, that trend North East towards 17th and Orange. Be careful at the south end of Orange and Anaheim, the property crime is in the same place as an encampment that was just removed. In Cambodia Town East, there were also some property crime along St Louis and 11th that trend up towards St Louis and Anaheim where some assaults took place. The car thefts around Rotary Centennial Park appear to be heading away from the neighborhood this week.
There have not been shootings since the last round. However, the one that took place in North Long Beach at Artesia and Butler, now has identified the victim. Authorities Tuesday identified a man killed in a possible gang-related shooting in Long Beach that also left another man wounded. The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. Thursday near Butler Avenue and Artesia Boulevard, said Long Beach police Sgt. Brad Johnson. Tyrone Douglas, 19, of Long Beach died at a hospital, said coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter. We are trying to identify victims, to prevent any shootings in Central Long Beach from being statistics as opposed to names/ real people.
Monday, March 7, 2016
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.
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.
Monday, January 18, 2016
Sunday Safety Watch 01/03/2016 to 01/16/2016
So, here's what's new. A Go Long Beach Run found increased tagging on 01/17/2016 in the west end of the neighborhood. There was very little to the east. Dumped items are also up. The blue line represents where that tagging emanates from. Keep an eye on the alleyway between Rose and Gaviota south of 15th. There was also a cluster of crime including drug possession and robberies. They start around Cherry and Anaheim and then trend east and north east. This is a cluster more than a trend, as the trend is week. There were also thefts just outside our neighborhood along Old Zaferiia Way that trend back into the neighborhood. Thefts from cars are on the rise, so please keep them locked in that area.
This is the map from this week. You will notice a cluster of assaults just inside our neighborhood along Old Zaceria Way. While nothing is happening in that Blue Circle, it's where virtually everything emanates from. You will also notice a trend of property damage along Walnut and Anaheim heading north towards Rose and 14th. That crosses the blue line in the previous map, which is where all the unreported tagging originates. There is also a trend of property crime just outside our neighborhood heading north west. Both maps show clusters along Old Zaferia Way, inside Rotary Centennial Park and along the South East corner of the neighborhood.
The latest Go Long Beach Run did see two cars exchanging drugs at around 12pm just outside of Rotary Centennial Park. Plates 6F58237/ 6HZU68B. Since a lot of new acticity in the area is drug related, and that leads to car theft, please keep an extra eye open in the area.
Neighborhood Expansion: There have also been shootings since the last update, but since these are outside the borders of our neighborhood, I will handle them in a separate update. However, below I am including a map of gang related tagging, so you see where the unreported tagging starts and which direction it trends.This information comes from a new map which tracks dumping, tagging and encampments. You can find that map here. The graphics are weeks at a time, the map should show where things are clustering and overlay with the Crime Reports Map nicely. I am still working out the kinks now.
I will be working with Josephine Villaseñor to bring this kind of Map to the Wrigley area as well, while we expand the Community Watch for all of the Sixth District in the time to come.
Friday, November 20, 2015
District One: Brings Graffiti Clean Ups to Weekend & Expands Alley Lighting Initiatives
Yesterday I went with District Six Candidate Josephine A Villaseñor
at the District One Willmore Community Watch Meeting. Some great news
from the meeting. Graffiti reports will now be handled on weekends too.
In other words, if tagging happens, you no longer have to wait until
Monday for it to get painted over. Also, Rep Lena Gonzalez initiative to
light up the alleys in District One, may spread to all of Long Beach,
with an initiative coming up before City Council in December. Thank you to Lena Gonzalez and District One from the MacArthur Park Community Association.
The next Community Watch Meeting:
Linden-Roosevelt Neighborhood
Monday, December 7th
7 – 9 pm
Roosevelt Elementary Room A101
1574 Linden Ave
Josie & I will also be hosting one at Fox Coffee House this December with everything we've picked up including starter packets early in December.
The next Community Watch Meeting:
Linden-Roosevelt Neighborhood
Monday, December 7th
7 – 9 pm
Roosevelt Elementary Room A101
1574 Linden Ave
Josie & I will also be hosting one at Fox Coffee House this December with everything we've picked up including starter packets early in December.
Sunday, November 8, 2015
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:
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.
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.
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.
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
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: 10/25/2015 - 11/07/2015
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 of last week is on the bottom; this week is on the top.
There was a a trend of residential burglaries on the streets just north of 15th last week. They begin around Sherman and 15th on Sunday and trend both east and west into this week.
Afterwards, they trended west and north. Also note there is a pattern of burglaries on the other side of Rotary Centennial Park this week and last week there was a trend of auto thefts trending up, in about the same place.
Please read up on preventing burglaries, since they are clearly up.
This week assaults are up beginning at Cherry and trending towards MacArthur Park. From there, they end as auto thefts pick up and begin trending north towards PCH. From PCH, those crimes trends back to it's starting place. In other words, keep your eye open everywhere.
In case you would like to help put an end to this there are some upcoming Community Watch Meetings.
Community Watch Workshops
Beginning Next Week
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
Location To Be Determined
Shootings Outside Our Neighborhood:
An early Saturday morning shooting in central Long Beach left one man dead.
Officers were called at 3:26 a.m. Saturday to the 1000 block of Olive Avenue on reports of a shooting, according to the Long Beach Police Department. When officers arrived, they found a man who had been struck by gunfire. Long Beach Fire Department paramedics responded and transported to a local hospital. - Full Story
There will soon be a page here to collect information on all shootings, make victims into names instead of numbers and make it incredibly difficult for anyone who does something so cowardly to count on their actions being forgotten.
* Within MacArthur Park: There have been less shootings, but crime is still up. Please keep an eye out for your neighbors. The MacArthur Park Community Association will be paroling at the least twice during the week and once during the weekend. Any suspicious activity will immediately be reported to police. Also until 15th street clears up, there will be morning patrols to look after the pathways to school.
There was a West Division forum on Human Trafficking and a Public Safety meeting by the first district. A separate write up is coming soon. I will have links to the write ups soon. Sorry for the delay.
There was a a trend of residential burglaries on the streets just north of 15th last week. They begin around Sherman and 15th on Sunday and trend both east and west into this week.
Afterwards, they trended west and north. Also note there is a pattern of burglaries on the other side of Rotary Centennial Park this week and last week there was a trend of auto thefts trending up, in about the same place.
Please read up on preventing burglaries, since they are clearly up.
This week assaults are up beginning at Cherry and trending towards MacArthur Park. From there, they end as auto thefts pick up and begin trending north towards PCH. From PCH, those crimes trends back to it's starting place. In other words, keep your eye open everywhere.
In case you would like to help put an end to this there are some upcoming Community Watch Meetings.
Beginning Next Week
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
Location To Be Determined
Shootings Outside Our Neighborhood:
An early Saturday morning shooting in central Long Beach left one man dead.
Officers were called at 3:26 a.m. Saturday to the 1000 block of Olive Avenue on reports of a shooting, according to the Long Beach Police Department. When officers arrived, they found a man who had been struck by gunfire. Long Beach Fire Department paramedics responded and transported to a local hospital. - Full Story
There will soon be a page here to collect information on all shootings, make victims into names instead of numbers and make it incredibly difficult for anyone who does something so cowardly to count on their actions being forgotten.
* Within MacArthur Park: There have been less shootings, but crime is still up. Please keep an eye out for your neighbors. The MacArthur Park Community Association will be paroling at the least twice during the week and once during the weekend. Any suspicious activity will immediately be reported to police. Also until 15th street clears up, there will be morning patrols to look after the pathways to school.There was a West Division forum on Human Trafficking and a Public Safety meeting by the first district. A separate write up is coming soon. I will have links to the write ups soon. Sorry for the delay.
Monday, October 19, 2015
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.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Dee Andrews to Host Town Hall on Public Safety 10/27/2015
Councilman Dee Andrews will host a 6th District Town Hall meeting, at 6:00 pm, on Tuesday, October 27th, at Mark
Twain Library, 1401 E Anaheim St, Long Beach, CA.
The
topic of the Town Hall meeting will focus on public safety. The guest
speakers will include Commander Robert Smith, Long Beach Police
Department, West Division and Homeless Services. The commander will be
reporting crime updates and giving tips on crime prevention.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information call (562) 570-6816.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
How Long Beach Lost Its Anti Gang Unit
This is taken verbatim from the bottom of the following link [the news stories about the recent murders in Long Beach]: http://www.lbreport.com/news/jun15/187alam.htm
In Sept. 2014, a Council majority approved without dissent, a FY15 (current) budget (recommended by both current Mayor Garcia and exiting Mayor Foster) that no longer funds LBPD's now-former field anti-gang unit.
The field anti-gang unit previously deployed twenty officers plus two sergeants in gang impacted areas where they could interact with residents and gather intelligence. LBPD continues to maintain a conventional gang unit (often working indoors on investigations and the like) but L.A. County's second largest city no longer has the field anti-gang unit that LB taxpayers had until September 2012 (chronology below.)
In August 2012, then-Mayor Bob Foster recommended a FY13 budget that proposed to eliminate the unit, and then-Vice Mayor Robert Garcia, chosen by Foster to chair the Council's Public Safety Committee, held no hearings on the public safety aspects of the Foster proposed budget. However the Council balked and voted to fund half of the field anti-gang unit using "one time" funds for a year.Coincidentally, violent crime is up in Long Beach.
A year later in September 2013, again with no hearings by Garcia's Public Safety Committee on the proposed budget, the Council failed to budget additional sums for the field anti-gang unit, which LBPD scrambled to maintain at a further reduced level by drawing officers from patrol and backfilling with overtime.
In July 2014, exiting Mayor Foster and entering Mayor Garcia both recommended a FY15 budget without funding for the field anti-gang unit. The Council's Public Safety Committee, now headed by Councilwoman Suzie Price (chosen by as chair by Garcia and endorsed for office by Foster) held no hearings on public safety aspects of the Garcia-Foster proposed FY15 budget (saying such an action would be "unprecedented.")
In September 2014, the Council voted without dissent to adopt a FY15 budget that provided no funding for LBPD's field anti-gang unit.
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