Mar Vista and Venice Residents Come Together for Neighborhood Watch Meeting

Concerned citizens from Venice and Mar Vista gathered in the cafeteria of on Thursday evening to discuss local safety issues and emergency disaster preparedness.

“Neighbors knowing neighbors is an elemental part of a community. It's the first step to a safe community. We're trying to promote that,” said Rob Kadota, co-chair of Mar Vista's Safety and Security Committee and a 15-year resident. “Neighbors looking out for one another, and caring, makes a community safer.”

Linda Lucks, president of the Venice Neighborhood Council, said “Neighborhood Watch is a place where we can all take responsibility. You are leaders. You set an example for your neighbors.”

This sentiment was echoed by John Noonan, a 10-year Venice resident. “I want to get more involved with the community,” he said.

Zach Schorr, a four-year Mar Vista resident, said he wanted to attend the meeting because, “neighbors have been talking about minor break-ins.”

The bulk of the joint Neighborhood Watch meeting was led by Capt. Jon F. Peters, the commanding officer of the LAPD's Pacific Division.

“It's encouraging to see all of you here,” he said, “because we can't do it without you. It's a partnership.”

Peters said the two goals of the Pacific Division is to keep people safe as well as making them feel safe. The division covers 26 square miles and includes 217,000 residents,  not including business traffic, travelers passing through LAX and tourists. 

He added there are two things to know as a resident: our basic car area and who your senior lead officer is. He also said it's important to report any crime in your area.

Peters mentioned two websites to help residents: Nixle.com, where you can register and receive free alerts from your local police, and iwatchLA.org, a community awareness program created to educate the public about behaviors and activities that may have a connection to terrorism.

Peters said that most car burglaries can be prevented by locking doors, shutting windows and not leaving valuables in plain sight. He also said residential burglaries are up, but many occur because people leave doors and windows open. Burglars, he said, are not organized criminals but opportunists.

Peters went on to say while there are no major issues with local gangs in the Pacific Division, there is an uptick in gang property-related and resident-related crime because gang members from South L.A. head to this area. They knock on the door and if nobody answers they go around back and break the door or open a door or window, he said.

The meeting wasn't just about crime issues, however. Emergency and disaster preparedness were also discussed.

Nick Hippisley-Coxe, chair of the Venice Neighborhood Council's Public Safety Committee, told Patch, “We've had an earthquake preparedness task force for three to four years. This year we formed a formal committee. This [meeting] is the second joint venture this year. Two weeks ago we had an emergency preparedness meeting with Villa Marina in Marina del Rey. It's very important when the big incident happens that we have good communication with neighbors.”

He added that everybody can participate in CERT [Community Emergency Response Team] training. The seven-week course is free.

Mar Vista also has its own disaster preparedeness program.

"Mar Vista has a new program called Map Your Neighborhood,” said Kadota. “It builds on Neighborhood Watch and what we can do as a block, as neighbors, to be better prepared to respond to disaster. Together we can help each other.”

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