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Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council
Coffee with a Cop Notes, March 2023
Posted on 04/03/23
Coffee with a Cop Notes, March 2023
28 people attended this in-person meeting at Tujunga IHOP. Our LAPD hosts were Foothill Capt. Marco Lozano, SLOs Eric Herrera and Eric Pérez, and SMART Officer Hernández. THANKS to Cheryl Schmidt, Mark Dutton & SLO Eric Herrera for sending notes & stats, since I couldn’t attend!
► WE WELCOME OUR NEW MOTORCYCLE TRAFFIC OFFICER! ◄
Traffic Officer Salvador Venegas—[email protected] & (818) 644-8142—takes over for retired Officer Joel Flores. Officer Venegas must cover far more territory than S-T, but he's the one we contact. When you email him with trouble-spots, please give him the hottest times of day. He can't watch one intersection for hours.
► FOOTHILL DIVISION HAS THE SECOND-LOWEST CRIME STATS IN LA!! HOLLYWOOD IS LOWEST.
► TUJUNGA’S Quick Crime Stats, 2023 vs 2022 – No homicide or rape in 2023!
– Violent Crimes dropped 70%, down from 24 to 7!
– Aggravated assaults are one-third (1/3) of last year's. – BUT...Total Property Crime rose 26%, from 68 to 86 crimes.
– Burglaries are up 144%, from 9 to 22! Most property crime and burglary occurs from 2AM to 5AM and hits Foothill Blvd businesses.
– Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is up 15%.
– Theft from vehicles rose 10%, from 10 to 11 events.
► SUNLAND'S Quick Crime Stats, 2023 vs 2022 – ZERO homicides or rapes in 2023!
– Total property crimes are down 33% because GTA, theft from vehicle, and misc. thefts are sharply down.
– Robberies are up by one-third (1/3), but only from 3 to 4.
– Burglaries are up 4%, by one incident, from 26 to 27.
►► Personal Statistical Observation and Conclusion:
Per Ring, Facebook and Nextdoor social media, I'm declaring Sunland-Tujunga the United States capital for lost, found, stolen, missing, escaped and wandering dogs! Owners, you promised them security.
► Giving "CIRCLE" a Chance to Roll Out...
LAPD's CIRCLE program—Crisis and Incident Response through Community-Led Engagement—hopes to focus officers on real crimes by handling non-emergency homeless calls so officers aren't pointlessly dispatched.
– Radio calls dropped 8% when Pacific Division implemented CIRCLE!
– But concerns arose because CIRCLE contracts Urban Alchemy (UA) for $8 million/year! Per UA's site, their workers are mostly ex-convicts who served 20+ years for serious crimes: https://urban-alchemy.us/our-people/
– Maybe a transient will respect/obey a "lifer" over an officer who must follow strict rules? Do UA's goals for the unhoused match S-T's?
– Email Mayor Bass and your council member with well-reasoned concerns. OR we could wait a month to see if we get similar stats to Pacific Div! Let's ask at next meeting!
► Stagnant Vehicles: Police can only act on vagrant vehicles if registration is expired 6 months and nobody lives in it. Unless both conditions are met, absent additional crime or health hazards, officers cannot act on a vagrant vehicle. If your neighborhood is plagued by one or more, contact your SLO and get his update on it.
► Squatting in empty homes has become a problem and creates a home base for criminals so brazen as to settle in neighborhoods. One resident reports two examples near him. PLEASE report this to LAPD because "One squat can bring a glut."
Attached is a graphic of your Senior Lead Officers by geography. At top left of the graphic is Eric Herrera, doing a fine job sitting in for SLO Caloca as temporary Tujunga SLO. Reach him at [email protected] and (213) 400-7358.
THANK YOU ALL for being part of the solutions that help Foothill LAPD keep our crime among the lowest in LA. NOW...let's keep our eyes open for each other and help cut the rise in property crimes!
Jon von Gunten
28 people attended this in-person meeting at Tujunga IHOP. Our LAPD hosts were Foothill Capt. Marco Lozano, SLOs Eric Herrera and Eric Pérez, and SMART Officer Hernández. THANKS to Cheryl Schmidt, Mark Dutton & SLO Eric Herrera for sending notes & stats, since I couldn’t attend!
► WE WELCOME OUR NEW MOTORCYCLE TRAFFIC OFFICER! ◄
Traffic Officer Salvador Venegas—[email protected] & (818) 644-8142—takes over for retired Officer Joel Flores. Officer Venegas must cover far more territory than S-T, but he's the one we contact. When you email him with trouble-spots, please give him the hottest times of day. He can't watch one intersection for hours.
► FOOTHILL DIVISION HAS THE SECOND-LOWEST CRIME STATS IN LA!! HOLLYWOOD IS LOWEST.
► TUJUNGA’S Quick Crime Stats, 2023 vs 2022 – No homicide or rape in 2023!
– Violent Crimes dropped 70%, down from 24 to 7!
– Aggravated assaults are one-third (1/3) of last year's. – BUT...Total Property Crime rose 26%, from 68 to 86 crimes.
– Burglaries are up 144%, from 9 to 22! Most property crime and burglary occurs from 2AM to 5AM and hits Foothill Blvd businesses.
– Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is up 15%.
– Theft from vehicles rose 10%, from 10 to 11 events.
► SUNLAND'S Quick Crime Stats, 2023 vs 2022 – ZERO homicides or rapes in 2023!
– Total property crimes are down 33% because GTA, theft from vehicle, and misc. thefts are sharply down.
– Robberies are up by one-third (1/3), but only from 3 to 4.
– Burglaries are up 4%, by one incident, from 26 to 27.
►► Personal Statistical Observation and Conclusion:
Per Ring, Facebook and Nextdoor social media, I'm declaring Sunland-Tujunga the United States capital for lost, found, stolen, missing, escaped and wandering dogs! Owners, you promised them security.
► Giving "CIRCLE" a Chance to Roll Out...
LAPD's CIRCLE program—Crisis and Incident Response through Community-Led Engagement—hopes to focus officers on real crimes by handling non-emergency homeless calls so officers aren't pointlessly dispatched.
– Radio calls dropped 8% when Pacific Division implemented CIRCLE!
– But concerns arose because CIRCLE contracts Urban Alchemy (UA) for $8 million/year! Per UA's site, their workers are mostly ex-convicts who served 20+ years for serious crimes: https://urban-alchemy.us/our-people/
– Maybe a transient will respect/obey a "lifer" over an officer who must follow strict rules? Do UA's goals for the unhoused match S-T's?
– Email Mayor Bass and your council member with well-reasoned concerns. OR we could wait a month to see if we get similar stats to Pacific Div! Let's ask at next meeting!
► Stagnant Vehicles: Police can only act on vagrant vehicles if registration is expired 6 months and nobody lives in it. Unless both conditions are met, absent additional crime or health hazards, officers cannot act on a vagrant vehicle. If your neighborhood is plagued by one or more, contact your SLO and get his update on it.
► Squatting in empty homes has become a problem and creates a home base for criminals so brazen as to settle in neighborhoods. One resident reports two examples near him. PLEASE report this to LAPD because "One squat can bring a glut."
Attached is a graphic of your Senior Lead Officers by geography. At top left of the graphic is Eric Herrera, doing a fine job sitting in for SLO Caloca as temporary Tujunga SLO. Reach him at [email protected] and (213) 400-7358.
THANK YOU ALL for being part of the solutions that help Foothill LAPD keep our crime among the lowest in LA. NOW...let's keep our eyes open for each other and help cut the rise in property crimes!
Jon von Gunten
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