When the city doesn’t step up, what’s a neighborhood to do?
Frustration is brewing with the breakdown of city services, which can lead to burglaries and unsafe living conditions. Residents are starting to take things into their own hands.
For a while now, thieves have been stealing copper wire from streetlights leaving areas dark and dangerous, thereby making it easier for criminals to enter homes.
Many residents follow city protocol—file a report to LA311 for the wire theft, report the case numbers to the field deputy for their council district—then hope and pray something gets fixed. Nothing happens. A disappointing phone call or meeting with their deputy and possibly a councilmember occurs. Then you are told that the Bureau of Street Lighting might get to it—three to six months down the line. But what can residents do in the interim?
South Citrus Avenue
Three blocks of South Citrus Avenue have been hit very hard with burglaries, counting 10 break-ins since January. Because of copper wire thefts, the lights on these blocks weren’t working until last month. It’s been a terrible and frightening few months for the street’s residents.
Neighbors have been doing a lot of work on their own. The Chronicle met with South Citrus’ six block captains who explained how their neighborhood has banded together to help themselves.
They reached out to LAPD Senior Lead Officer Tyler Shuck, who has been very responsive and helpful. Officer Shuck assigned additional patrol cars to the area, and Wilshire Division even conducted a roll call—where the entire division meets for their morning assignments—on their block. The additional police presence has made the residents feel a little more secure and has helped with their morale.
SPIKES INSTALLED on a homes exterior wall help keep criminals away.
The group has formed not one, but two text chains—one for emergency 911 situations, such as a burglary in progress, and one for non-emergency transfer of information, such as a suspicious vehicle or person. They’ve organized nightly walks so that potential criminals see people on the streets regularly. And they’ve had what they call “porch parties,” where neighbors get together to socialize, share ideas and get to know each other.
All the homes post neighborhood watch signs in their yards and have done all they can think of to harden their homes to thieves.
This includes spending thousands of dollars on alarm systems, motion sensor lights, spiked tops for their fences, locks for their power boxes, outdoor sirens and a device called a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) so that perpetrators can’t turn off a home’s power. They all agree that these precautions are helpful, but finally having the streetlights working is the most helpful. They are all aggravated that they have to make additional and expensive safety fortifications to their homes because of the city’s shortcomings.
Miracle Mile
Kari Garcia, one of the vice presidents of the Miracle Mile Residential Association (MMRA), believes Los Angeles is “a broken, inefficient system with a lack of communication.” She is beyond frustrated with the city’s inability to respond to her association’s needs. Council District 5 Field Deputy Shannon Calland is the only bright spot. She’s been very responsive, even though her hands are often tied.
The MMRA has over 90 broken lights. Crimes have occurred near the inoperable lights. There is graffiti, vacant properties where transients and drug dealers loiter and many exposed streetlight wires throughout the area. According to Garcia, “L.A. Dept. of Water and Power says to assume every exposed wire is charged,” causing a safety hazard across many blocks.
SOLAR LIGHTS keep South Spaulding Avenue a little brighter until the city fixes the streetlights.
A portion of MMRA, South Spaulding Avenue, is yet another area where thieves have stolen copper wire from streetlights. Evan Wolf, a resident there, says neighbors have gone through all of the recommended channels of the city, but, “The city is overwhelmed. There doesn’t seem to be a deterrent to commit crimes.” He feels the city is reactive rather than proactive.
The area is following in South Citrus’ footsteps, and they too have started their own group chat. Neighbors have placed solar lights on the poles of the inoperable streetlights, again taking matters into their own hands while trying to keep the streets lit and deter criminals. “People are taking this very seriously,” said Wolf.
Council District 5
All of the previous neighborhoods are in Council District 5, represented by Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky. The district is very aware of these property crimes and the issues stemming from copper wire theft. Leo Daube, a spokesperson for Yaroslavsky, said, “Los Angeles is facing major challenges citywide with its street lighting infrastructure. Years of underinvestment paired with a sharp increase in copper wire theft have pushed citywide repair times to 10 months.”
The district is working to help its constituents. CD5 has allocated discretionary funds to provide additional overtime for Bureau of Street Lighting repairs in order to shorten the wait. They’ve also assigned additional money to LAPD patrols. According to Daube, “Our office is doing everything in our power to minimize the impact of the current service levels … [We’re] pushing for a long-term, citywide solution that treats lighting like the public safety priority it is.”
Category: News
