During a community meeting at the North Division Police Substation on Monday, Aug. 21, Police Commander Rudolph Komisza answers questions from the public.
Komisza began with a brief introduction on the meeting’s purpose.
“When we talk about items, I’m really looking to focus on larger, divisional issues versus a particular issue that may be impacting your neighborhood,” Komisza said.
Community police academy
Komisza first discussed the community police academy, which is currently open to the public and has been proven to be highly effective.
“It is held at the Long Beach Police Academy,” he said. “It is a one-day community police academy where all of you, if you apply and you pass a limited background investigation, have an opportunity to be exposed to police procedures [and] police tactics on a scaled-down version.”
Komisza reached out to residential associations, business associations and community leaders to ask for feedback on the academy, and he explained the comments he received were top-notch.
The academy also brought back a memorable interaction with a participant that Komisza shared.
“I have a funny story,” he said. “One very well liked community member up here attended, and this person gave me a call and said, ‘Wow, I could not believe the scenarios. I shot somebody that was unarmed and I shot somebody else in the back, and I said, I walked out of this with a whole different perspective on what you guys have to deal with.’ So, I said, ‘Well, good thing it was a training simulation and it wasn’t real life.'”
Anyone interested in signing up for the academy can submit an application through longbeach.gov/police.
Murder, gun assaults and robberies
Komisza explained that the number of murders in his division in 2017 so far is equal to the total number from 2016, which is five, although the number of gun assaults has gone down.
In contrast, robberies have increased.
“We are seeing some increases in the North Division,” Komisza said. “We are seeing increases throughout the city. It’s not conducive to the city of Long Beach. When I look at crime statistics across the country— other jurisdictions— whether it’s Tucson or other urban areas— cities across the United States— we are seeing a trend of increases when it comes to robberies.”
Komisza defined robbery, which is taking the personal property of an individual without the person’s consent by the means of force or fear.
However, there are ways to prevent a robbery, and Komisza explained a few to the audience.
“Be aware of your surroundings,” he said. “When you are going to your car, have your keys ready. Don’t be preoccupied with your purse or your wallet or focused in on any one particular item. People who are looking to commit a crime of opportunity are looking for those that are not attentive to their surroundings.”
Commercial burglaries
Komisza explained ways to avoid commercial burglaries since there are groups going around looking to break into businesses in early-morning hours.
“From a prevention standpoint, we are doing our best to reach out to our partners, our business owners, in the community, to make their businesses less attractive,” he said. “And you can do that by increasing lighting, by evaluating the bushes and trees and making your business more open to public view.”
Mail theft
Komisza warned the audience that there have been individuals recently following FedEx trucks around and communicating with one another in order to steal dropped-off packages.
Mail theft, which Komisza described as his No. 1 pet peeve, is easily managed.
“If you have mail being delivered or boxes dropped off at your front porch, please evaluate your habits and make some changes,” he explained. “Reach out to your fellow neighbors, open lines of communications, make arrangements with FedEx, postal service, to not have that item dropped off at your front porch, take that extra step to drive to UPS [or] have a neighbor collect the item— whatever the case may be.”
Auto burglaries
To classify a burglary as an automobile incident, an individual enters a locked vehicle and takes a personal item without the owner’s consent.
Komisza provided simple solutions to preventing such burglaries.
“Please, do not leave personal items in your car,” he said. “No change on the center console, no laptop computers, no golf bags, no purses, no sunglasses […] and if you have registration paperwork, hide it somewhere in your car.”
Komisza highly suggests that individuals invest in anti-theft devices for their vehicles such as a club mechanism for the steering wheel or an alarm system.
Residential burglaries
One of the main messages Komisza emphasized was that individuals should build partnerships with their neighbors so that, when there is suspicious behavior or criminal activities, the members of neighborhoods know how to work together. One way to collaborate is to begin a community-watch program.
To start such a program, neighborhoods can contact North Division Neighborhood Services Specialist Erika Moreno.
Certain community members who attended the meeting frequently questioned what necessitates a phone call to the LBPD concerning suspicious behavior in neighborhoods.
“It doesn’t mean you call the police department with every single solicitor that knocks on the door,” Komisza answered. “But, if you see someone walking around your neighborhood who you do not recognize as being familiar to your neighborhood, just watch them for a couple of minutes or her for a couple of minutes. Are they behaving overtly in a way that is inconsistent with what a normal citizen would be doing? What are those behaviors? Checking door knobs, looking into windows, checking if windows are open, jumping a fence, looking over a fence, checking car doors [or] standing in front of a door too long?”
Homelessness
Homelessness appeared to be one of the largest concerns at the community meeting, and Komisza said the LBPD has to be aware of various components when interacting with a homeless individual.
“Homelessness is not a crime,” he said. “There could be some behavior that is criminal in nature associated with homelessness. […] There is an enforcement component, but there is a holistic component. Department of Health and Human Services remains the lead.”
Komisza said that when an individual calls the LBPD to report a homeless issue, articulation of the criminal activity with as much specificity as possible is important.
“There is a kinder and gentler approach with issues surrounding homelessness,” he said, explaining that the public should consider all circumstances before they decide to make a call to the dispatcher in the future.
Questions and answers
In response to community questions, Komisza had a consistent answer to the attendees.
“You have to be able to articulate some specific criminal activity, however slight,” he said. “Use your judgement, but we prefer that you call when you can articulate something with specificity.”
However, Komisza said the LBPD is not discouraging the public from making calls, and the department is always looking to improve and help in any way they can.
“This is all really business and citizen empowerment. That’s all it is,” he said. “It’s teaching people, citizens and business owners to evaluate what’s going on so that you can take control of your neighborhoods on smaller-ticket items, which allows me to take my resources and focus my resources on larger-ticket items. And the larger-ticket items are violent crime.”
