The UNNC Public Safety Committee met yesterday evening, February 8th, at the LAPD drop-in center on Washington Blvd.
 
Leslie Evans of Van Buren Place gave a presentation on his Blight Abatement Program which has successfully abated hundreds of crime, blight, safety, and nuisance issues in the Empowerment Congress North Area Neighborhood in the last three years.  Neighbors report such issues in to the program, these issues are then endorsed by the Neighborhood Council, and the issues are given to the appropriate city entity(ies) for resolution.  According to Leslie, these issues are given a priority response by the City Attorney, Building and Safety, CD1 office, and the LAPD.
 
The UNNC Public Safety Committee would like to adopt this program for our area.  To do so, two representatives, one north of the 10 Freeway and one south of the freeway, will investigate possible code/safety violations (including HPOZ violations) or nuisance activities and photograph the violation or nuisance.  A third person will collect the information provided by the first two and compile this information to update a standardized report that will be submitted to Building and Safety, the City Attorney, the council offices, Housing Dept., etc.
 
Besides the Blight Abatement Program, the Committee presented the following topics for possible future discussion:
 
- Camera installations - Remote units at commercial corridor hot spots monitored by the LAPD as well as less expensive stand-alone units for individual commercial entities
- Illegal posters on light poles - prosecution of those responsible to eliminate this blight
- DOT/Parking Enforcement issues - illegal car honking, double parking, parking across sidewalks, commercial vehicles in residential areas, etc.
- Graffiti rewards program, graffiti abatement
- Speeding in residential areas
- Loud music - alter police response procedures so that offending parties are fined for a second call-back any time within six months of the initial call and a second fine and confiscation of amplification equipment for a third call-back.
- Hiring of off-duty LAPD officers by community organizations for extra patrols
 
Of the above, we would immediately like to focus on the first two.  Please let me know if there are items not on the above list you would like to see addressed in this committee.  Of course, we will add to the agenda only the issues that the community - and committee members/attendees - want to address, so your input is crucial.  Also, please let me know of (or please contact personally) anyone whom you think would be interested in contributing to this committee.  I frequently hear constituents express concern about public safety and nuisance issues and I would like to involve these people.
 
Please respond to this e:mail if you wish to be added to the Public Safety contact e:mail list.  If I do not hear from you, I will not include you on future notices and updates.
 
The Public Safety Committee meets at the Washington drop-in center (4012 W. Washington Bl.) on the 2nd Thursday of every month at 7:00 p.m.  The next meeting will be March 8th.  I hope to hear from you!
 
Steve Wallis