West Division Leadership Forum: 06/22/2016

Please join Commander Robert Smith and his staff for this informative meeting on Wednesday June 22, 2016 at 6:00pm. at 205 E. Anaheim We will be having presentations on different programs available to Juveniles.

For further information please contact, Neighborhood Services Specialist Jose Vazquez, at 562-570-3461 or via email LBPDwest@longbeach.gov

****Spanish translation will be available****

Vengan acompañar al Comandante Robert Smith a una reunión comunitaria El Miercoles, 22 de Junio a las 6:00 de la tarde en el 205 E. Anaheim Tendremos varias presentaciones sobre diferentes programas disponibles para Juveniles

Para obtener más información favor de llamar a Jose Vazquez, al 562-570-3461 o mande correo electronico a

LBPDwest@longbeach.gov

*****Tendremos traducción en español disponible*****

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

Paenting Workshop: Risky Behavior: Wilson High

Sunday Safety Watch: 03/13/2016 - 03/19/2016

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. 


Keep an eye along PCH. There were auto thefts that trended west and breaking and enterings that trended East. Also keep your eyes open on Alamitos. Though Alamitos may quiet down when the bike lanes are done. There is increased property damage on Peterson. And there was property damage at Gaviota and Anaheim. The encampment that used to be at Walnut and Anaheim is now there in the alley north of Anaheim. Also notice a trend of thefts at Redondo and PCH. Note virtually everything in that circle took place on Friday.

There was a very suspicious van at Cherry Donuts. Read the details here.

There were three recent shootings outside our neighborhood. Two were officer involved shootings.

The first incident began about 6:30 p.m last Thursday., when officers spotted a vehicle that was "acting in a suspicious and evasive manner" near 68th Street and Long Beach Boulevard, said Marlene Arrona, a spokeswoman for the police department. The car stopped in the middle of Long Beach Boulevard, and a man inside left the car and fled on foot away from police, Arrona said. Officers chased the man about two blocks to an alley near 68th Street and Orcutt Avenue. In the alley, the man allegedly brandished a firearm and did not drop it, Arrona said. After the man was shot, officers provided medical aid and he was later taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His identity was not released.

A man was killed during a shooting in the city’s West Side early Saturday morning, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) officials said. Officers were dispatched to the 2300 block of Cameron Street at 2:25AM on Saturday, March 19 regarding a shots heard call, LBPD spokesman Brad Johnson said.  “While responding to the scene they were advised that there was a subject down in the street,” he added. Arriving officers found a man suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to the upper torso, according to officials.

The final shooting was not officer involved: Police are investigating a shooting in North Long Beach that left a woman injured just after midnight Friday, authorities said. An officer was dispatched to a Downey hospital at 1:13AM on Friday, March 18 regarding a gunshot victim who was shot on the 6800 block of Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) spokesman Brad Johnson said.

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.

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.

 

Clean Up: This Saturday Walnut and Anaheim: Headed North to PCH 10am

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 is a ton of tagging and dumping in an alley that spans Gaviota to Rose. The alley is just behind Anaheim. As part of our Neighborhood Expansion program this week we clean half of that alley and reported all the tagging for clean up. We also did a Go Long Beach Run through our own neighborhood and the AOC7. The AOC7 has a clean up next week. 

The map now shows where the dumped items are, so if the city doesn't pick it up before the clean up, AOC7 can just hand that map to Public Works. 

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.

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.

Sunday Safety Uodate: 02/28/2016 to 03/06/2016

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.

The two obvious patterns are there are some thefts trending south east along 17th Street. Outside of the neighborhood there crime is trending east along 10th and away from the place where the homicide occurred last Sunday. There have been two homicides in Central Long Beach and three in Long Beach over the last week, and three in Long Beach all together. Both homicides in our area were on Sunday in the early morning hours after 2am. Of the incidents you see on both maps, a lot was happening on Friday, March 4th. If you hear gun shots, never assume they're fireworks. Always call them in.

• On Sunday February 28, 2016, at approximately 3:24 a.m., Long Beach Police were dispatched to assist the Long Beach Fire Department in the 1000 block of Norman Court on a call of a dead body. I still can't find a name for the victim.
• A possibly gang-related shooting in North Long Beach Thursday afternoon left one man dead and another with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said. Officers responded to Artesia Boulevard and Butler. The deceased has not been identified.
• On Sunday March 6th, 2016 at about 2:44 a.m. LBPD found a man (adult) with an apparent gunshot injury in a vehicle a few blocks south and east in the 1700 block of Pacific Ave. The victim has been identified as Ryan Davone Martin, 23, of Long Beach. 

There is a trend of thefts and thefts from cars moving from Rotary Centennial Park towards the neighborhood. But the pattern is somewhat weak. There is also a trend of thefts moving away from a meth arrest right outside the neighborhood towards the Poly Neighborhood. Based on these patterns, keep an eye on Junipero, along the east side of our neighborhood. Also keep an eye on 10th Street and Poly High School. 

There are a lot of dumped items in the neighborhood and along PCH, in most alleys. 

Also based on a patrol along PCH to Magnolia, Magnolia to Hill, Hill to Pacific and Pacific to PCH and PCH back home, we would have had to stop every ten seconds to report everything we saw., I'm going to do a Go Long Beach Run early tomorrow to get at the dumped items. Remember, if you see something say something. Three fatal shootings in one week is three too many. And the gangs do not own this city, be strong and take it back.

Also, we still have two clubs for a car to give to anyone willing to take the pledge to keep their neighborhood clean. 

Sunday Safety Update: 02/21/2016 to 02/27/2016

The map above shows little change from early trends. There are thefts along PCH and Orange heading into the neighborhood and then up. There is a rise in assaults at the east end of the neighborhood, please be very careful as there was a shooting in that area recently.

02/09/2016: LBPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Bradley Johnson says that at about 12:25 a.m. on Feb. 9, officers were dispatched to a shooting in the 2200 block of Spaulding St. and found a man shot. Sgt. Johnson says the victim was uncooperative with police; LBFD transported him to a hospital with non-life-threatening wounds. 

There is a trend of auto thefts and property crime, just south of us at the west end of the AOC7 heading north towards the neighborhood. The property crime tends to foreshadow worse things to come, so be cautious around 11th/ 10th between Orange and Gundry. There is also a week trend of auto thefts along Rotary Centennial Park. Auto theft is down here overall. We still have two wheel clubs ready for one Wrigley and one MacArthur Park resident willing to take the Neighborhood Pledge. It's a nice gift for agreeing to keep your neighborhood clean.

Break in the  Alicia Faith Todd Case

I am also grateful to announce there was an arrest made in the shooting of Alicia Faith Todd of Signal Hill. Police say they've arrested a man in connection to the case of a young woman shot dead in an alley in Long Beach last summer. Following an investigation, police arrested Tremaine Lewis, 24, of Long Beach, last Thursday. Police said Lewis was in a domestic relationship with Todd and the two were together on the night of the murder. If you have any information about this case, you're urged to contact Long Beach Police Department homicide detectives at (562) 570-7244.

Take the Neighborhood Pledge

There was also an arrest in the December shooting of North Long Beach resident on 02/22/2016. Keonte Runell Jones, 23, who is also known as “Blue Dawg,” pleaded not guilty Jan. 22 to one count of murder with allegations that he used a handgun and committed the crime in association with a street gang, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. He is accused of shooting Roosevelt Newton at Orange Avenue and East Washington Street in Long Beach on Dec. 10.

Washington Neighborhood Shooting

There was another shooting on Thursday in the Washington Neighborhood.Officers were dispatched to the 300 block of West 14th Street at 11:05PM on Thursday, February 25 regarding a possible shooting, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) spokesman Brad Johnson said. “Upon arrival, officers found evidence that a bullet had struck the house but did not enter and no one was injured,” he added. We already attacked the gang element by doing a Go Long Beach Run and reporting all gang related tagging on Cedar, We'll do it again ASAP..

West Division Leadership Forum: Recap

The LBPD held its West Division Leadership Forum yesterday. The topic was primarily auto theft. Auto theft is on the rise. In order to combat it, police recommend a common sense approach to keeping your belongings safe. Keep your car locked, windows rolled up and valuables out of site. The Long Beach PD also recommended that you think carefully about how you define valuables. For someone who is down and out, who sees a car with a window rolled down and a few dimes in the cup holder, that may be enough to spark a crime of opportunity. For more detailed information on keeping your car safe, please read this blog entry.

 

The second lecture was about the mobile apps the police use in crime and crime prevention. Go LBPD, provides "one stop shopping" access to The Long Beach Police Department - information relating to news, crime prevention, alerts, events, videos, and photos, through social media feeds such as Nixle, Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, and Flickr, along with the ability to submit crime tips, all with the tap of a finger.

The Go Long Beach PH is part of a slew of apps Long Beach Residents can use to work towards a safer, cleaner city. Those other apps include Go Long Beach, Nixle, iWatch, Pulse Point and Crime Reports.

There was also a presentation by the police volunteer unit, a West Division Crime Statistician and a lot of success stories. One success story was of the nosy neighbor who stops a burglary in progress by recognizing what's out of place for her Wrigley Neighborhood. Six District resident Josephine Villasenor also chimed in with a success story where a homeless encampment reported that was selling drugs to minors was closed down within hours of sending in the photos to the LBPD.

The LBPD also generously gave out clubs for car steering wheels. We will be giving those away, but only to someone who takes the Neighborhood Pledge to keep their neighborhood clean and safe. The next West Division Leadership forum will take place n two months at St. Luke's Church. The topic will be gangs.

Neighborhood Expansion: Early Crime Trends for the 6th District. Wrigley. 20th to 21st on Cedar and Chestnut: Theft/ Property Crime. Property crime often precedes something worse. Pacific and Willow. Assault/ Theft. Washington Neighborhood: Auto Theft: Auto theft. Pacific and 16th. MacArthur Park Neighborhood: Auto thefts on PCH from Cherry to MLK. Also violent crime matches up with earlier trends on Junipero and Spaulding.

Sunday Safety Watch: 02/07/2016 to 02/20/2016

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 guarentee it will reappear in that area in the future.

The map above spans two weeks. You will notice all the patterns are weak, hence the pink lines. The darker the arrow, the stronger the trend. First off, not much is happening according to the map in February. It does appear assaults and property crime [graffiti] are on the rise. They seem to weekly trend up from Cherry towards 14th Street and Gundry. Josie and I did a patrol through the neighborhood pretty late into the night, and it was rather quiet.

A Go Long Beach Run through the area showed Gang tagging is up. In response, we hit several areas outside the neighborhood with Go Long Beach. We also used Code Enforcement with businesses that refuse to take the tagging down. - See the Neighborhood Expansion Report Below

There is also a week trend of assorted crimes along Spaulding in the East end of the MacArthur Park Neighborhood of Central Long Beach. There is also a trend of thefts along Alamitos. Bear in mind the construction on Alamitos around Rosa Parks Park gives bad people a place to hide. When walking along Alamitos, please carry a flash light and walk in pairs when possible.

Neighborhood Expansion: Heavy tagging by the East Side Longos, a tagging crew and somebody else. Cedar and Chestnut Streets are the strong hold for the East Side Longos. I was verbally assaulted by a "gang" member when I was taking the pictures, didn't scare me. I stood my ground and he backed off. Also meet Gustavo, his garage has been tagged 6 to 7 times and he repaints it every time, he knows who does it ,talked with the father of the boy but the father didn't care. Attention: The post about the tagging I did, the GO Long Beach App had most of the tagging cleaned up before 12pm today. I want to thank them for their fast response. So I'm going to try to help him repaint it and talk with the kid and father.- Josephine Villasenor/ Wrigley Community Watch

The police have released a recap of crime stats last year via the website Next Door: Here's a summary. Total Part 1 crime increased 15.9% from 2014; violent crime increased 18.8%; and property crime increased 15.4%. The number of aggravated assaults increased 18.9%; and 17 of the 36 murders in 2015 were gang-related. Reductions were seen in four property crime categories: residential burglary decreased 11%; garage burglary decreased 7.2%; commercial burglary decreased 12.1%; and arson decreased 8.2%.

The West Division Leadership Forum will be held on 02/24/2016. It will again be held at Grant AME Church at 1129 Alamitos Ave, at 6pm. The subject will be preventing auto theft, which we covered in detail here.

MacArthur Park: Go Long Beach Tracker 02/21/2016

There was a Go Long Beach Run through all of the MacArthur Park Neighborhood this morning.It found ten incidence of tagging/ nine were gang related. It found 14 incidents of of illegal dumping.There was also one street sign that should be replaced as well as a recommendation for an additional stop sign at Gardenia and 15th Street.

Two businesses were coded for failure to remove gang tagging.

The most important clear trend is that gang tagging is way up. Report it as soon as you see it.

This included the east end of the neighborhood. Dumping still clusters on Gaviota north of 17th. There is also a trend of dumping along Stanton north of 15th. Tagging trends up Walnut/ and Gaviota. There is also a newer trend of tagging and dumping along 17th Street between Walnut and Rose.

Eyes should be kept on Walnut/ Gaviota/ Stanton/ 17th Street and Alamitos based on what is seen here.

Neighborhood Expansion Run: Through Wrigley/ Washington

Here's what we found: Heavy gang tagging between 14th and 15th on Cedar/ other side of Washington Middle. All reported for removal. Not much dumping in central Wrigley, but there was an alarming number of what looked like Blue Crosses or Cross Hairs at Chestnut and Hill. They were on a mailbox/ street sweeping sign and a tree. All reported for removal, as was a dumped fridge in Cedar Heights/ Wrigley.

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.

#SupportJosephine

Sunday Safety Update: 12/06/2015 to 12/12/2015

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.

Trends within the MacArthur Park Neighborhood are scattered and week. There is a weak trend of breaking and enterings beginning at 15th and Lemon and trending north east towards 16th an Alamitos. Times vary from noon to 9pm. Just below that, in Cambodia Town West and Cerritos Village, there is a stronger trend of thefts from cars trending north west. At the same time a tend of assaults is trending east along 11th Street. 

Be reminded there was a homicide in this area a few months ago; no neighborhood association exists there yet, and a spike like this proceeded that shooting.

On the other side of Junipero you will see a huge spike in Car Thefts and thefts from cars. These all seem to start from an unreasonable noise complaint that happened around midnight at the 1100 block of Ohio and then radiate out NW, NE, and SE. Keep your cars locked and safe. There is a clue in the patterns here: all the thefts from cars seem to be happening during the day, all the car thefts seem to be occurring at night.

Within the circle, on the south side of our neighborhood, there are some petty thefts along Anaheim. They all occurred on Wednesday and they all occurred during the day. In other words, everything happening in Central Long Beach, at least all the clear pattens are just to the South East or South West of our neighborhood. 

The patterns inside, are pretty weak and scattered.

Arrests Made in the Shooting on Gundry

After making one arrest last month, Long Beach police arrested three more in connection with a fatal gang shooting November, police announced Tuesday. Jeffrey Keo, a 26-year-old Long Beach resident was gunned down around 9 p.m. Nov. 10 in the area of 14th Street and Gundry Avenue. The killing prompted an hours-long search that included SWAT officers.- Full Story

Suspects arrested:

1. Unnamed 17-Year Old
2. Angel Campo - 18
3. Esteban Panchi - 19

Shootings Outside Our Neighborhood:

Fortunately, the one shooting that has occurred is way outside of our borders. 

Police are investigating what they believe could be a gang-related shooting in North Long Beach Thursday afternoon.

Officers were dispatched around 12:20 p.m. to an assault with a deadly weapon call in the area of Orange Avenue and East Washington Street, said Nancy Pratt, a police spokeswoman, in an email. They found a man who had been struck in the upper body at the scene. - Full Story

While I did miss the Wed update this week, the map at the time showed very little happening in the neighborhood. Though it doesn't show up on the Crime Reports Map there is also a lot of activity on Orange and 17th Street. There was a Go Long Beach Run this morning which showed a significant decrease in both dumped items and tagging, however some of those dumped items may have been picked up in yesterday's clean up.

Community Safety Meeting
Today 12/13/2015: Fox Coffee House
Willow & Eucalypts 
From 4pm to 5pm
RSVP Through Face Book

Our goals include a better coalition of neighborhoods, a more educated community watch and bringing safe passage to more Long Beach Neighborhoods.

Sunday Safety Update: 11/15/2015 to 11/21/2015

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

Within the borders of the MacArthur Park Neighborhood not much is happening. It's been very quiet around the park itself. And thanks to our neighborhood resource officers, the park itself and the alleys are spotless. When I passed by for today's clean up, the other side of 14th was worse than the park itself.

There is a weak trend of assaults at PCH and Alamitos heading northwest towards fifteen, where a slightly stronger trend of unrelated crimes dips south back into the neighborhood. Be vigilant around PCH and Alamitos by the college and by Alamitos and 15th. Also be very careful if you're in the north end of the neighborhood just to the east of us.

There is a weak trend of car thefts heading from the AOC7 around Hoffman and 11th heading North East towards Gaviota an Anaheim. In that same neighborhood last night at around 10th and Vina, the streets were blocked off and a police helicopter was in the area.  I know due to neighborhood contacts, I have not yet learned the reason. I will share as soon as I do.

Within pour neighborhood there is a lot of activity around Junipero that starts with strong trends heading East or West and weaker trends heading South East or North West. If you're in the area around Anaheim and Junipero, please keep your items locked. There have been increased breaking and enterings, which will get worse as we approach the holidays. Also, there is a strong trend of different kinds of crime around Spaulding Street. Anywhere on Spaulding west of Junipero keep an eye out for your friends and neighbors.

Because I have a few off days, there will be extra neighborhood walks, Go Long Beach Requests, and Josephine A Villaseñor and I are going to work on a more structured version of a Community Watch that would allow better communication between neighborhoods and better training on conflict deescalation, disaster preparedness and and self defense.

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. 

Wedensday Safety Watch: Spike Around Raymond And Anaheim

The MacArthur Park Neighborhood: Notice there is a trend of burglaries around Anaheim and Raymond in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood heading South East out of the neighborhood. Thefts from cars seems to be trending south from Rotary Centenial Park towards Orizaba. Also keep an extra eye open around Anaheim and Obispo.

Neighborhood Expansion: 
Today We're Watching Out For 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 to bad things happening, to something that will happen every week. This week MacArthur Park is keeping an eye on Wrigley in support of Wrigley.

Auto thefts begin around Hill and Earl then trend South East based on the time of day. They seem to begin at 8pm, then another one happens about an hour later. From 20th Street, the there are a few more incidents trending north east based on the day, that includes theft from a car on Sunday and property damage on Monday. 

Keep an eye on 22nd and Cedar where three things happened in one night, including a breaking and entering at 8pm, another one in the same area an hour later and a theft from a car later that night. Bare in mind these incidents are from about two weeks back.


Wrigley: For more community watch information go here to the Wrigley Neighborhood Community Watch: facebook.com/wrigleyneighborhoodwatch/  or join the Wrigley Group for a Better Wrigley.

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.