By Cyndi Hench, NCWP president and Neighborhood Watch captain:
Opinion: In recent weeks and months, the communities of Westchester, Playa del Rey and Playa Vista have experienced a number of crimes and what seems like an uptick in burglaries. According to the L.A. Times’s crime statistics, a spike occurred in November 2013 and has been coming back down and was about “average” for the area in January and February.
That does not mean that there is no crime in the area, however. In the past three months, on a weekly average, Westchester has had 36 property crimes and 1.7 violent crimes; Playa del Rey has had 3.8 property crimes and .3 violent crimes; Playa Vista has had an average of 3.2 property crimes and .2 violent crimes per week. Property crime consists of burglary, motor vehicle theft, burglary/theft from a motor vehicle and personal/ other theft.
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Starting a Neighborhood Watch begins with talking to your neighbors on your block and sharing with them why you want to start a Watch group. Gather contact information for your neighbors and set up a block meeting with your LAPD Senior Lead Officer (SLO). You can find your SLO below, by calling the LAPD Community Relations/SLO Office at (310) 202- 4515, or through the Neighborhood Council’s “Community Links” at www.ncwpdr.org/Community-Links. More information about Neighborhood Watch can also be found on the Neighborhood Council website at www.ncwpdr.org/PublicSafety.
We’re getting involved at our house. What are you doing?
See Cyndi’s full op ed on thehometownnewsonline.com.
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