Recent Crime

[Steve]

What are the recent crime trends specifically for the Village that you notice?
A couple of nights ago, on my nightly jog in the neighborhood, I saw a man get mugged on the corner of Bronson and Chula Vista. I asked the man if he wanted me to call the cops and wait with him, he replied, "for what?, it's not like they care". I warned a couple of residents walking around that night to be careful, they replied,"oh yea, that's been happening lately." So that leads me to ask, how many crimes go unreported? What can be done to prevent it? How can we increase safety for the patrons and the residents of Franklin Village without taking the feeling of a safe community out of it? Did you know that there was a rape reported on Taft a couple of weeks ago?


Any comments, suggestions, thoughts we can take to combat what seems like an increase in crime in the Village

[Howie]

Anyone in Franklin Village should report any unlawful activity. Next time you see a mugging you should report it regardless of the victim's penchant. Why? Because the report goes into COMPSTAT and the stats determine police deployment.
A police response will deter thugs from operating without fear of reprisal. And cops will respond, likely quicker than in other LA neighborhoods because Chief Bratton lives here.

Where and when was a rape committed?

[Steve]

Rape occurred 9/13 around 10:30 am on Taft ave by foothill drive. I received this info from the compstat maps. Going back a couple of months on the compstat maps, the trend of an uprise in crime is visible in the franklin village area with burglaries, aggravated assaults and robberies, however, I cannot spot the increase in police presence.

[Summer]

Tonight around 10pm, my neighbor was walking his dog along Chula Vista towards Cheremoya when he noticed a black Escalade driving along him. The escalade quickly flipped a upturn on the corner of Cheremoya and Chula Vista placing the vehicle right along my neighbor walking. Three hooded men busted open the doors to hop out, but before they could get out of the vehicle my neighbor picked up on what was going on and start running down Cheremoya to our apartment complex. Luckily for him the guys took off. This was the exact dark corner that a man was mugged and knocked unconscious in September. We called the police and they said they would send a patrol car to come by and check out the area (who knows if a patrol came by). I agree, not enough people are reporting these crimes happening in this neighbor and people need to put us on the LAPD radar map of increase violence happening. The people committing these crimes are continuing to come back again and again.

[Steve]

I hope you neighbor is OK. It can be a very frightening ordeal. Unfortunately, I think there is still a very thin line that rides in Franklin Village with civic participation, if that's what you want to call it. It's quite a tragedy that we feel free to walk down to Birds for a drink or the Pig for a cup of coffee, but other than being patrons, what else are we truly doing to preserve this neighborhood? I've looked into the neighborhood council that meets every second Tuesday at the church, but unfortunately, it all looks like city business and bureaucracy, and on top of that, I don't feel that one must join a neighborhood council to promote or make a statement about civic safety in the Franklin village area, I mean are all the residents going to join? That wouldn't be very smart. The last thing I'm looking for is to create a hysteria about this situation, however, I do think it needs a sense of urgency.

[Howie]

That likely explains the PD chopper circling above my house for half an hour after midnight this morning, though their search light was trained on a Beachwood corner. So you see Steve there is a response if you speak up, even when no crime went down. And you needn't participate in meetings; voice your concern to the commander of Hollywood LAPD station and certainly speak up about any crimes you have first hand knowledge of.
That said, the descrip of the black escalade is key and thanks Summer for posting that; everyone in the neighborhood should be alerted.

[Steve]

Measures have been taken to voice concerns to the Captain of the Hollywood station. I think the bigger picture is being missed that more of a preventative measure needs to be taken as opposed to running around and extinguishing situations as they come. There is also a bigger picture of community engagement. Unfortunately not all residents of Franklin village are engaged in the community like you, I as well as the rest of the members of the Franklin village "cyber-community", and there is also an issue of patrons who come to Franklin village, that aren't residents. They may not be privy to the crime statistics as the residents, however, they make themselves just as susceptible to it when they come down here. I'm not denying a response when the cops are called, however, I'm pointing out a climate in the area where cops need to be called more often, which is a symptom that crime is lingering in this area, which I'm sure everyone can agree is not a good thing.

[Brandi D'Amore]

There are two issues going on with respect to crime. I've spoken with the council and I receive the crime statistics.

One is that people aren't reporting their victimization to the police. So the statistics are not representing any crime increase, so no additional patrols.

Two-it has been proven in the past that some of the "crime" is rumored, and has been started by homeowners to persuade many to believe we need to further limit people's entrance into the neighborhood.

[Summer]

Can anyone tell me if there is going to be a public safety meeting held today (12/15) about the recent crimes? I believe I saw a posting around the neighborhood about it, but when I went to look for the posting today it was torn down.