Los Angeles Police Department will have “Days of Dialogue” 11 August from 6 to 9 pm at the Ahmanson Recruit Training Center, 5651 W. Manchester Ave.
This is a forum where the attendees will discuss what citizens like and dislike about the police.
A man who was shot by Los Angeles police after allegedly advancing on officers with a knife at a Venice coffee house has died, authorities said today.
It is called “Mobile Justice” app and it is good for iPhone and Android applications. If one should see a police incident happening that looks unjust. This is the app. (News tip was supplied by Mark Kleiman.)
What it does is give one buttons to RECORD an unjust incident and REPORT it directly to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) office closest. One can even record a WITNESS. One uses settings to provide identity of sender and then the location of the ACLU closest.
One of the problems with the app is that one cannot use it for a police report or for a newspaper. Info goes directly to ACLU.
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Note: These are perplexing times for residents of Venice. We have a Councilman who helped pass more stringent laws regarding keeping parks and sidewalks clean–automatic removal of bulky items, less notification time for abandoned items. But, the Mayor says he will not sign ordinance, yet it will automatically become law anyway because of way City Charter is written. Then Mayor says he will stop enforcement. Well, the Police Commission trumps him on that one. So it will be interesting to see what happens. (And we don’t even know if this will make a difference to the safety of the individual.) Meanwhile, we the Citizens, the taxpayers are having a hard time justifying what is happening in our neighborhoods. It appears neighborhoods, residents are becoming less and less important.
By Mark Shockley, a resident of Oxford Triangle (area west of Lincoln, south of Washington)
A couple things I thought I would share.
On Friday Morning (July 3) at 6AM I was riding my bike past the Glencoe Park on the corner of Glencoe and Alla. I stopped to use the mens room but it was locked. The door then flung open and I was accosted by a homeless man who was apparently shaving. He was 6 feet tall, super muscular and shirtless with a shaved head. The guy was super aggressive, in my face and I got out of there quick. He basically chased me off. Hell no, I don’t want any of that.
I was shaken up and I was concerned for the next person who knocked on the door so I decided to report it. I called the LA PD and was informed that they wouldn’t come out to investigate unless I waited for the officers. Now I’ve got kids and time is short but I did wait. Once the police arrived (Officer Gan and Calhoun) they knocked on the door and the homeless guy would not exit. As a matter of fact, he never exited the bathroom and after 10 minutes the officers decided to leave. I was pretty surprised. Aren’t you going to wait a bit longer, no warning, not even interested in seeing what he looked like?
I asked the police to please wait and they said, “No”. Then I asked to fill out a report and they smugly replied, “A report for what, did he hit you?”. And I said, “No, but he almost attacked me”. And the officer said, “So what are you reporting?” “Are you saying I need wait until he kicks the shit out of me in order to fill out a report?” And the officer replied, “unfortunately yes?”.
Here is my issue with this: I have 3 children and living in a safe environment is very important to me. I feel the rights of the homeowners are not respected nor enforced properly. I don’t get it, since when does homeownership and being a responsible community member count for nothing?
To put this in context, two weeks ago my wife’s 4-Runner was broken into. The center console was ripped out and the contents of the car were stolen. To make matters worse my 10 year old son found a hypodermic needle on my daughters car seat. We were petrified when he walked into the house with this needle. Did anyone come out to investigate, nope. We filled out a police report via the telephone. How can the overworked police come down to our neighborhood and pretend to care when they’ve got bigger fish to fry? We need a service dedicated to this particular issue, which is getting out of hand.
Furthermore, On July 4th, I watched two really wasted, homeless guys stumbling down the middle of Dickson in the daytime. One of the guys pulled out a huge knife and proceeded to cut his jeans into shorts (in the middle of the street about 20 feet from my kids). Did I report it, no. What’s the point? Nothing will be done, no report will be filed and I’ll get laughed at by an officer who thinks this is a joke.
When homeowners are threatened and when they feel like they need to take security issues into their own hands then, in my opinion, thats a problem.
A sobriety check point was set up at Yale and Washington near Lincoln Friday from 8 pm to midnight or 1 am. Sergeant Chris Clark said he had six other officers on motorcycles from Rose to Washington checking drivers.
Tents–No, in the parks; yes, on public sidewalks. One can erect a tent in a park only if permitted, but otherwise, no. Tents on public sidewalks can be erected between 9 pm and 6 am only. In either case, if rule is not followed, item can be considered a bulky item and not require notification for confiscation.
Two ordinances were passed this week by City Council. Both will affect the Venice homeless and their possessions in parks and city areas. Both ordinances will become effective early July when Mayor Eric Garcetti signs them and they are published.
Basically, both ordinances define bulky items and establish that they may be removed and destroyed without prior notice.
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Bulky item or Bulky items means any item, with the exception of a tent, that is too large to fit in one of the City’s 60-gallon trash containers with the lid closed, including but not limited to a mattress, couch, chair or other furniture or appliance.
A tent is considered a bulky item, unless permitted, in a park area and will be removed and destroyed. A tent in a public area must be there only from 9 pm to 6 am. Other than those hours it will be in violation.
Personal property placed in a public area for 24 hours or more shall be considered stored and subject to removal. In addition it cannot be temporarily moved and put back on a regular basis.
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Moving Personal Property to another location in a Public Area or returning Personal Property to the same block on a daily or regular basis shall not be considered to be removing the Personal Property from a Public Area. The City may remove and impound such Stored Personal Property after providing 24-hour written notice.
Both ordinances define that notification of personal property removal will be 24 hours rather than the present 72 hours. Personal items remaining after 24 hours will be removed to storage at a designated place for 90 days as they presently are.
This ordinance, amending subsections B and I of Section 63.44 of Chapter VI of Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC), will restrict the possession of non-permitted bulky items and tents, and prohibit storage of personal property within the limits of any park, including a Park consisting of beaches and water recreation areas. All City parks will be affected, as will Venice Beach Park, which also includes Ocean Front Walk.
This ordinance, which repeals and replaces Section 56.11, Article 6, Chapter V of LAMC, will prohibit the storage of personal property in public areas.
Triangle residents feel they are surrounded by homeless. Homeless are all along Washington and Lincoln Blvds in doorways at night, solicitating at the corner during day, and in the shopping center and on Carter, both day and night.. The Maintenance Yard on Thatcher has police and fire there frequently to remove the encampment. The only other area not covered is highlighted by this tent and it is County property. County is continuously removing homeless from the area between the Oxford Retention Basin and the wall on Oxford.
Venice resident Ray Maiello had the following experience with an RV dweller in front of his home.
“I left this gentleman a note on his RV parked in front of my house for 2 days about overnight parking,” wrote Maiello. “And this afternoon, I went to open my door and this is what I was met with. Spoiler: violent threats (said would kill me off video) and then threw a soda bottle at my fence and left. Called LAPD at 4:06 pm and took them 30 minutes to respond. Entire time he was stalking me outside my fence. He left just before police showed up. Then he came back while police were here to show him the note and they cuffed him. They detained him in the vehicle for 15 minutes and Sgt Wilkins of Pac Division filed an incident report and let him go. They would not arrest him because they had other “more urgent” calls/matters.
“I asked: ‘What happens if he comes back and attacks me or my family?’ Sgt Wilkins was nice but said, ‘Don’t worry, we talked to him and he knows he’ll get arrested if he comes back.’
“That’s cold comfort and highly disappointing police protection after violent threats.”