Earlier this week, Windsor Village Association hosted a meeting with LAPD officials SLO Hebel Rodriguez, Detective Joe Romero and Wilshire Division Captain Anthony Oddo to discuss efforts by the police and the neighborhood to reduce crime and improve public personal safety in the neighborhood.
Crime in the area served by his police car has increased, explained SLO Hebel Rodriguez, however he noted that burglaries from vehicles has fallen slightly, likely due to the efforts by residents to remove anything of value from their cars.
“It makes a difference,” said Rodriquez, “We just have to educate neighbors to remove any loose change, laptops, cellphones, etc. from their cars.”
Windsor Village and Brookside have been especially hard hit in recent months with home burglaries said the officers who applauded the efforts of the association to form a neighborhood watch and important effort to reducing crime.
“Getting to know your neighbors is very important,” said Rodriguez.
Detective Romero, coordinator at Wilshire Division, added that video technology has helped them solve a lot of burglary cases and he encouraged every resident so consider installing some kind of camera with a smartphone app that notifies them if someone is attempting to enter the home. He also said it was important to have one camera at their front door and one at the back door, since most thieves will try to enter from the rear to avoid detection.
When residents asked about when to call 911, Captain Anthony Oddo said to only use 911 if it’s an emergency. Response times for urgent calls is about 5 minutes, but he is constantly working to improve response times and add more officers. Oddo noted that the crime rate is leveling off, but he and his officers remain vigilant.
“We look at crime stats everyday. We are always trying to identify suspects, look for clusters of crimes with similar MOs to see if we can detect a pattern and deploy more officers to an area for a short time to suppress criminal activity,” explained Oddo, adding they often just shift criminal activity from one part of the neighborhood to another.
Oddo applauded the efforts to organize the neighborhood so residents can work together and recommended some familiar actions that every homeowner should take to make their house safer including:
- Install cameras with GPS so if they are stollen or moving you will be notified
- Get motion sensor lights that are activated is someone approaches
- Reduce the height of hedges around your house so it can be seen
Finally, Oddo urged residents not to overact but use good judgement about real threats.
“Sometime, kids are kids, not everyone is trying to take your stuff,” said Oddo, referring to posts on Nextdoor.com that incorrectly reported two young girls were trying to gain access to a house in Larchmont Village.
In other business, resident Susan Nickels invited neighbors to sign up for CERT training and earthquake preparation. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is an all-risk, all-hazard training designed to help individuals protect themselves, their family, neighbors and neighborhood in an emergency situation. The course is Tuesdays at 7pm starting Mary 1 – June 19, 2018.
The association is planning a Block and Building Captains program under the leadership of Diane Dicksteen and Betty Fox and interested resident were urged to sign up. Block or building captains will be asked to help get information and message to residents in their building or on their block to encourage participation neighborhood activities.
Will Levegood, an arborist from the Korean Youth and Community Center (KYCC), spoke to residents about planting trees in the neighborhood and offered to provide assistance identifying “the right trees for the right places” in the neighborhood as part of the association’s effort to help residents and the City replace some of the aging trees in the neighborhood and add new trees.
The next Windsor Village Association Community Potluck is scheduled for October 13, from 3:30 – 5:30 pm and will be a harvest them with a children’s and pet’s costume contest. Visit the Windsor Village Association website for more information.
