By Carol Thompson
Staff Writer
Frustrated by a recent surge of burglaries, car break-ins and vandalism in their neighborhood, approximately 70 Viriginia Country Club/ Los Cerritos residents gathered last Thursday evening to address their concerns with representatives of the Long Beach Police Department and Eighth District Councilwoman Rae Gabelich.
The neighborhood meeting was hosted by Chris and Brenda St. Hilaire, whose own cars had been burglarized in recent weeks and who, upon speaking with neighbors, discovered that a number of them have also been recent victims of burglaries and vandalism.
Brenda St. Hilaire welcomed everyone to her home, explaining she and her husband were compelled to take action in the interest of preserving the quality of life in their neighborhood. “If we start acting scared and begin to retreat, turning our lights out at Halloween, we’re letting the criminals win,” she said.
North Long Beach Substation Commander Billy Quach affirmed that while violent crime has been on a downward trend throughout the city, auto burglaries and property crimes are up and the LBPD expects to see a continued rise in property crime with the downturn in the economy. Summing up what would be the theme for the evening, Quach said “we need to be more vigilant than ever.”
Gabelich suggested that it is the absence of crime that lulls neighborhoods into complacency, noting that while her office has helped to organize 44 neighborhood watch groups over the past four years, none of these groups have been established in what she termed “more comfortable neighborhoods.” Commander Quach added that, given the state of the economy, preventing crime is a big challenge for the department, and he urged residents to get to know their neighbors “on both sides, behind you and across the street. You are the first line in defense and we rely on you to assist us.”
While several neighbors aired their concerns about LBPD response time, citing instances of mishandled 9-1-1 calls, the focus and mood of the meeting was not on complaints about service, but rather on what the residents might to do to keep their homes safe.
Commander Quach began by reminding everyone that at the top of the list is vigilance.
As case in point, Quach chided the residents for their complacency. “For the last two days, I’ve been driving around in an unmarked car, walking up the street, looking in cars, looking like an idiot and no one stopped me! You know who lives here and you know who doesn’t belong,” he said. After a resident mentioned that the neighborhood is a diverse one, Quach jumped on it, getting quite a few laughs, saying “I’m all for diversity, but I’m not here to be diverse!”
Quach reviewed current staffing levels, advising the residents that LBPD resources are deployed in their neighborhood. “We have one to three sergeants and 11 to 23 officers on each shift, with two to three patrols cars assigned to this neighborhood. “Just because you don’t see us doesn’t mean we are not there. We routinely patrol in unmarked cars,” he explained.
Still, the message he wants residents to embrace is that they need to pay attention to the people in the neighborhood and take all the simple steps to make crime more difficult for perpetrators. Commander and police services specialist Marlene Arrona reminded residents to keep their cars locked at all times, even if they are simply running into their house for a few minutes. Citing data from 2008, Quach reported that while violent crimes are down significantly, property theft from autos is up 9 percent while auto theft is up 18 percent, and these trends are expected to continue. The commander handed out an advisory on auto burglaries that lists commonly stolen items: purses, wallets, electronics, mail, cell phones, iPods, GPS devices and compact discs, often left in plain site.
Being vigilant includes reporting any incident to the police department, regardless of how small. “It is the only way for us to track crime trends,” Quach said, which assists the department in planning deployment of resources. “If you see anything odd, don’t hesitate to report it to the department. We want you to call us,” the commander insisted. Call 9-1-1 or (562) 435-6711, which he recommends programming into your cell phone, to report any suspicious activity, including loiterers around parked cars.
While this information seemed appreciated by those in attendance, there remained concern that the current police resources may not be enough to reverse a trend that is disrupting the safety of the neighborhood. Brenda St. Hilaire spoke on behalf of her neighbors, saying they have recently discussed pulling their resources to hire a private security firm to supplement LBPD patrols on their streets. Quach replied that while that is always an option, they might be better off installing video surveillance outside their homes if they wish to increase security. “Have background checks been completed on employees of private firms?” he questioned, “If you are going on vacation, call us and tell us,” he advised, imploring residents to use the resources they already pay for.
The meeting concluded with Gabelich urging the residents to set up neighborhood watch groups on every street, attesting to the proven effectiveness of organized efforts by residents to become more attentive to crime prevention. In essence, the entire meeting came down to the old adage— the best defense is a good offense, and that begins with each and every homeowner.
