Westside is plagued by property crime

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles police have arrested two juveniles accused of breaking into more than 90 vehicles since mid-January.

The burglaries have occurred in Playa del Rey, Westchester and Venice in recent months. In recent weeks, the windows of more than thirty vehicles have been smashed in Playa del Rey.

“There’s glass everywhere,” says Lucy Han of Friends of the Jungle. “I mean, it’s just horrible. They’re so brutal. They think they’re above the law.”

Han lives in the community of Playa del Rey that was recently targeted by vandals.

“My neighbor caught them and said, ‘Go away,’” Han said. “The man looked at my neighbor and continued to break another ten windows.”

LAPD Interim Chief Dominic Choi spoke Tuesday about the recent surge in property crime in beach communities.

“The Westside is plagued by property crime,” Choi said. ‘We tackled that with highly visible patrols. We have assigned our mounted unit there to be visible in these public areas.”

Police on Sunday arrested two youths believed to be responsible for at least 92 car burglaries since January. The teens have already been released from prison, back to their parents.

“We can’t walk around these communities and accept this type of behavior,” Councilwoman Traci Park said.

Park represents District 11 on the Los Angeles City Council.

“This is part of the culture of lawlessness that I’m talking about,” Park said. “The feeling that there are no consequences or responsibility for this kind of behavior. We must reform Prop 47 and get serious about prosecuting these types of crimes.”

Last week, the LA City Council passed a motion that would give police real-time access to private security cameras with the owners’ consent. City officials and police are convinced that this measure will help reduce crime.

Surveillance video of the car burglaries helped police arrest the two teens.

“Community members can sign up and register their specific cameras with our real-time crime centers so we have access,” Choi said. ‘So we don’t have to knock on the door to see what’s happening. Almost in real time if you will. It has been proven, in areas that have real-time crime centers in this province and elsewhere, that these real-time centers have as well. reduced crime in certain neighborhoods.”

“Ideally, I would have enough police officers in every neighborhood to deter this type of crime,” Park said. “So using technology to supplement our police force is something that we need to do.”

Many people in the Playa del Rey community are now picking up the pieces of glass left behind by the criminals. Han says she would like to see more police patrols.

“We know they’re not the only ones doing this,” Han said. “There will be more.”