City Attorney Mike Feuer and LAPD Olympic Division Captain David Kowalski met with a small group of residents living within the Olympic Division boundaries that includes Koreatown, part of Windsor Square, Larchmont Village, Wilshire Park and Windsor Village.
City Attorney Feuer introduced some of his staff in attendance includingNeighborhood Prosecutor Veronica Soto and Community Resource Specialist Kimberly Morosi and marijuana prosecutor John Prosser. In addition to Captain David Kowalski, the entire compliment of Olympic Division Senior Lead Officers also attended, including our local SLO Joe Pelayo.
Olympic is one of the most densely populated divisions of LAPD stretching from Plymouth Blvd on the west to Hoover on the east, Melrose on the north and the Santa Monica freeway on the south. The issues raised by residents illustrate challenges faced all over the city as neighborhoods become more crowded with less parking required because of the promise of increased transit, rising crime and a growing population of homeless who are unable to access help or unwilling in a minority of situations.
Feuer and Kowalski answered questions about LAPD’s efforts to address rising property crimes especially car break-ins; efforts from the City Attorney to sue hospitals who are caught dumping patients on the streets and efforts to convert residential hotels to housing for the homeless. Feuer said Prosser and his small staff of attorneys have shut down 860 illegal pot dispensaries since Proposition D was enacted in 2013.
But Feuer acknowledged that much more needed to be done for residents in the Olympic Division. He said LAPD needs more resources to combat crime and the city needs more housing for the homeless as well as better coordination with the county who provides mental health services but he also urged residents not to give up.
“Call on us,” Feuer told residents, “Our team will do everything within our power to make this area safer and improve the quality of life.”