Westwood South

Westwood South of

Santa Monica Blvd.

Homeowners Association

Crime

IMPORTANT LAPD CONTACT INFO: 

WLA Watch Commander:   (310) 444-0701
Senior Lead Officer Rashad Sharif:   (310) 444-0738 Office
                                                     (310) 622-0372 Cell
                                                     Email: 27162@lapd.lacity.org
City-wide Non-emergency  LAPD Phone #:   (877) 275-5273

Emergency phone #:  911

 DAYTIME BURGLARIES ON INCREASE IN OUR AREA.

Important Contact Information

Watch Commander (310) 444-0701
Senior Lead Officer Rashad Sharif (310) 444-0738 Office
                                                             (310) 622-0372 Cell
                                                              27162@lapd.lacity.org
City-wide Non-emergency Phone # (877) 275-5273

BE ON THE LOOKOUT! 

The majority of burglaries are committed during daytime hours, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., when people are at work.

Some people go door-to-door scouting potential homes to burglarize, often with a clipboard to seem like more credible sales persons. They may note the addresses of homes
where no one is home, and other pertinent information.

• •If you are home, it is best NOT to ignore a doorbell or knock on the door. An empty home may be an inviting target. Call out, "I'm busy, please go away." It is safer to use a man's name, so a woman could call out, "John, I'm busy, can you get the door?" If they do not leave, call a neighbor.
• •If you can safely engage them in conversation, ask what they are doing, or what they are selling, that is often enough to cause them to leave the area. Most burglars do not want to be seen.
• •If you can safely take a picture of a person who seems suspicious, or their license plate, please email it to Officer Sharif at 27162@lapd.lacity.org or Lt. Carlos Islas at 24985@lapd.lacity.org These can be parts of a puzzle which detectives use to investigate criminal activity. State the reasons for your suspicions. Do not confront someone, or put yourself at risk. It may be safer to take a photo from a distance.
• •If you see suspicious behavior, you can call the watch commander at (310) 444-0701.
• •If they find a house with no one at home, they may go to a side or rear door or window, and break the glass.
• •When you hear alarms, or noise like glass breaking or a dog barking, check out the sound.
• •If your alarm company is actually located outside of the state, when an alarm goes off, they may actually notify the police station near the corporate office rather than the local station. It may be useful to ask that question of your alarm company.
• •Don't mail things of value during the holidays.
• •If you are shopping and want to put your packages in the car, and keep shopping, remember that thieves may be watching. You can put the packages in the trunk, and then move your car.
• •If you are purchasing a big-ticket item, make that your last shopping stop. Do not leave those items in the car while you do more shopping. If you sense that you are being followed, go to a high-traffic area, eg a mall or a police station.
• •It is safer to approach your car from the front. Watch for vans with sliding doors parked next to the driver's side of the car.
• •If you purchase something that will be delivered, do NOT authorize them to leave it without a signature. It is better to have a safe pickup location.
  
  Make Your Home a Harder Target
• •Lock your doors and windows.
• •Lock gates and fences to your side and back yards.
• •Set your alarms if you have them.
• •Get a set of inexpensive cameras.
• •Place video cameras at common access areas, outside, front, back, sides and master bedroom.
• •Some people place a motion-activated camera pointed at a place where they store valuables.
• •Have lights on timers in different areas of your home set to go on and off at different times.
• •Leave a radio or TV on when you leave, but not so loud that it does not seem as if anyone is actually home.
• •If you have a ladder, make sure it is secured and locked.
• •If you keep cash or jewelry at home, do not leave them in the master bedroom or the bathroom. Sock drawers are the first place a burglar will look. Use a safe, if you have one, or a safe deposit box. Keep them in a safely locked place.
• •If people will be in your home, lock up your medications, as well.
• •Dogs, even small ones, are a deterrent. Burglars do not want any noise to call attention to themselves.
• •Special shatter-proof glass on a vulnerable window may provide a slightly harder target.
• •If you have a sliding glass door, get a thick dowel rod (similar to a broomstick) cut to fit in the door track.
• •Sensors on the glass can be helpful.
• •Install tracking software on laptop computers. If it is stolen, the police can locate it and get a search warrant. This is not a difficult or costly approach, and can be very effective.
• •Take photos of your valuables. Etch your driver's license number on bikes, etc.
• •If you lose items in a burglary, scan Craigslist and Ebay to see if you can identify any of your stolen items.
• •Do not buy magazines from a door-to-door salesperson. They may have compelling personal interest stories, but they are gathering information, and you will/may never see a magazine.
• •The police advise to have everything delivered to a post offiice box, if possible. Inconvenient, perhaps, but safer.

THEFTS FROM MOTOR VEHICLES

ARE OUR No. 1 CRIME IN WLA

REMEMBER TO:

Lock It – A reminder to always lock your vehicle.

Hide It – If you must leave valuables in the vehicle, hide them from plain sight.

Keep It – A positive reminder that personal responsibility can safeguard your valuables from theft .

Top Items Stolen from Vehicles:
GPS Devices
Cell Phones/Chargers
Money
Stereos/Radios
Documents, Mail, Check books

For more Crime Prevention Information or to get involved in a local Neighborhood Watch, contact your local Los Angeles Police Station or visit the LAPD Web Site at WWW.LAPDONLINE.ORG 

                                          COMMUNITY ALERT

WEST LOS ANGELES AREA /LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WLA AREA CRIME ANALYSIS DETAIL

                 CONSTRUCTION SITE BURGLARIES

THE WEST LOS ANGELES AREA HAS EXPERIENCED AN INCREASE IN

BURGLARIES FROM CONSTRUCTION SITES. MOST BURGLARIES ARE

OCCURRING DURING THE NIGHT BY UNKNOWN SUSPECTS WHO ARE

BREAKING THE PAD LOCKS TO THE STORAGE CONTAINERS AND

REMOVING TOOLS.

IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY REMODELING OR ARE PLANNING TO

REMODEL YOUR RESIDENCE, PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE CRIME

PROBLEM AND TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS BY DISCUSSING SAFETY

PRECAUTIONS WITH CONTRACTORS TO MINIMIZE POSSIBILITY OF

THEFTS.

CONSIDER USING MOTION-ACTIVATED LIGHTS, SECURITY CAMERAS,

AND HIGH-SECURITY LOCKS.

IF YOU OBSERVE A CONSTRUCTION SITE BURGLARY IN PROGRESS

OR SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY, PLEASE DIAL 911 OR 877-ASK-LAPD.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT WEST LA

BURGLARY DETECTIVES AT (310) 444-1568 OR SENIOR LEAD

OFFICERS AT (310) 444-0735.

Prepared by: West Los Angeles Crime Analysis Detail Date: 12/27/11

CAS#: 08111208-1U1

Save the Date!

The 2012 Operations-West Bureau Citizen Community Police Academy has tentatively been scheduled. Proposed dates are as follows: Korean speaking Citizen Community Police Academy Every Wednesday night, beginning March 7, 2012, through May 9, 2012, with a culmination date of May 16, 2012, at location to be determined. English speaking Citizen Community Police Academy Every Wednesday night, beginning May 30, 2012 through August 8, 2012 (exception- class will not be held on Wednesday, July 4th, 2012 in observance of the holiday) with a culmination date of August 15, 2012. The eleven-week course will be held at various locations on the west-side of Los Angeles, each Wednesday night between 6:30pm and 9:30p.m. Each Community member must meet the following criteria: · Must be 18 years old or older (see note below); · Live, work or go to school in the Operations-West Bureau vicinity; · No prior felony conviction; · No outstanding warrants; · No pending criminal cases; and · Must be approved by an Area Commanding Officer. Interested citizens should contact the Officer-in-Charge of the Community Relations Office and or their Senior Lead Officers at their local police station; Hollywood Area, Sergeant Darrel Davis, (213) 485-4316 Wilshire Area, Sergeant A. J. Kirby, (213) 473-0200 West Los Angeles Area, Sergeant Mark Durrell, (310) 444-0732 or         via email at:  25706@lapd.lacity.org Pacific Area, Sergeant Jeffrey Merlo, (310) 202-2890 Olympic Area, Sergeant Teodoro Urena, (213) 382-9130

      LACoDA Warns of “Robo-Call” Banking Scam

Advisory Message has been issued by the LAPD - West L.A..

BLOCK CAPTAINS

DON’T BE A VICTIM OF AN AUTO-RELATED

PROPERTY CRIME:

Lock It: 

A reminder to always lock your vehicle.

Hide It: 

If you must leave valuables in the vehicle, hide them from plain

sight (and do

so before reaching your destination so that you cannot be seen placing your valuables in the trunk!).

Keep It: 

A positive reminder that personal responsibility can safeguard your valuables from theft.

TOP ITEMS STOLEN FROM VEHICLES

GPS Devices

Cell Phones/Chargers

Money

Stereos/Radios

Documents, Mail, Check Books

Many thefts from vehicles are PREVENTABLE crimes.  

Do your part and be smart!

Lottery Scammers Targeting the Spanish-Speaking Community (10/30/10)

Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Foothill Area detectives are asking for the public's help in identifying and locating a group of suspects who are working in pairs to target Spanish-speaking individuals in the San Fernando Valley area communities including Pacoima, Arleta, Lake View Terrace, Sun Valley and Sunland.

During the last few months in 2010, Spanish-speaking con artists were duping unsuspecting victims into a lottery scam with no winning ticket. The suspects approached a lone person and told the victim that they were in possession of a winning California State Lottery ticket. They then told the victims that the winners were in the country illegally and couldn't claim their winning tickets or the lottery required them to give cash or something of value before they could collect their winnings. The victim is then offered a share of the winnings if he or she presents themselves as the owner of the ticket to the state lottery authority. Ultimately, the suspects demand something of the value from the victims, preferably cash, as their protection.

The suspects have been so creative as to call a third suspect on the phone who pretends to be a representative from the state lottery office. The victim was allowed to speak to this person by cell phone to verify the ticket. Sometimes the conversation on the cell phone is by speakerphone.

The victims drove to their homes and banks to retrieve money and/or jewelry and gave it to the suspects and later found out there was no winning lottery ticket.

Detectives are warning the public to beware of strangers approaching them and claiming to have a winning lottery ticket.

The suspects are identified only as male and female Hispanic ranging in age from mid-twenties to late-forties.

Anyone with information on these suspects or who believes he or she may have been a victim of these scammers is asked to contact LAPD Foothill Area Detectives at (818) 834-3142. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crimestoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters "LAPD." Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on "webtips" and follow the prompts.