Venice and Mar Vista Residents Come Together for Neighborhood Watch Meeting

Concerned citizens from Venice and Mar Vista gathered in the cafeteria of Mark Twain Middle School 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.”

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 LAPD's commanding officer of the 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.”

He said the two goals of the Pacific Division of the LAPD are to 1) Keep you safe and 2) Make you feel safe. The Pacific Division covers 26 square miles and includes 217,000 residents, not including business traffic, travelers passing through LAX and tourists.

He said there are two things to know as a resident: What is our basic car area – which part of Pacific Division you live in – and who is your senior lead officer? It is very important to report any crime in your area, he said, because officers go where where crime is reported.

“With budget issues and our lack of resources it is incumbent on us to work smarter,” Peters said.

He mentioned two helpful sites: Nixle.com, where residents can register and receive free alerts from their 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.

In terms of car burglaries, Peters said most could be prevented by hardening the target: locking doors, shutting windows and not leaving valuables in plain sight.

He said residential burglaries are up, but many occur because people leave doors and windows open. The burglars are not organized criminals but opportunists, Peters reminded the audience.

There are no major issues with local gangs in the Pacific Division, the captain said, but there is an uptick in gang-related property crime in the area because gang members from South L.A. come here to find targets. 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.

Peters shared some good news: In the past eight to nine years, Part 1 serious crimes have been reduced to 1960 figures.

Some of Thursday's meeting was devoted to emergency disaster preparedness. “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.”

Nick Hippisley-Coxe, who chairs 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.”

Hippisley-Coxe said that everybody can have CERT [Community Emergency Response Team] training. The seven-week course is free.

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