Friends of the Wilshire Library will be hosting a bake and book sale to help support the library on Saturday February 16th from 1-4pm. The sale will feature homemade treats from local bakers, fabulous books for adults and kids at bargain prices. There will also be a raffle to win a gift certificate to Chevalier’s. Raffle tickets are only 50 cents. This is truly a “local” event.

Stop by with your family or come on your own. It’s your local library – please support it.

Wilshire Library is located at 149 N. Saint Andrews Place.
Book and Bake Sale Saturday, February 16th from 1-4pm.

Windsor Square Association

157 North Larchmont Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90004

Don’t forget to attend the annual meeting tomorrow, Nov. 14th, at  7 pm the Ebell!  You can also bring your check to the meeting, if you like.

Windsor Square Association Annual Town Hall Meeting

When:  Wednesday, Nov. 14^th, 7:00 pm

Where:  The Ebell, 743 S. Lucerne Blvd.

Who:   WSA Board • Representatives from the office of Tom LaBonge • Speakers from LAPD Wilshire & Olympic Station

Firemen!

Historians!

Your Neighbors!

Why:   This is your annual chance to catch up in person with the activities of the Windsor Square Association, to ask questions of Board members and city representatives, to have a cup of coffee, and chat with your neighbors.  It’s all designed to help keep Windsor Square one of the most livable and historically important neighborhoods in the city.

Attached is a scan of the information distributed by CD10 and the LAPD at the May 31, 2012 Public Safety meeting.

CD10 contacts and LAPD Security Tips

• Use 911 if you see something that the police can follow-up immediately.
• Most of the crime increase is in car break-ins. Lock car, hide particularly GPS, phones, chargers, money, documents and mail.Crime prevention tips: www.lapdonline.org
• Be as clear as possible and take special care to collect details – descriptions of cars, people, locations and activities are very important.
• Use your phone’s camera to photograph license plates, cars, suspicious activity etc. Photos can be sent electronically to the police very quickly.
• The police are compiling a list of all surveillance cameras so they can check if a crime occurs nearby. Please let your SLO know if you have exterior cameras.
• Make it very obvious that someone is at home. Do not answer the door if you are concerned, but make it clear that you are in the house.
• The obvious: set alarms, close doors and windows, use timed lights.

Our precincts use Facebook and Twitter to communicate quickly with the public. Please look them up and follow or friend them:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/LAPD-Olympic-Community-Police-Station/203622083051779
@lapdwilshire

Windsor Square is divided into two police precincts along the middle of Plymouth.
Both SLOs were very clear that they want the neighbors to feel free to call or email them, even if just to introduce themselves.
To the east of Plymouth, in Olympic Division, our Senior Lead Officer is Joe Pelayo

To the west of Plymouth, in Wilshire Division, our Senior Lead Officer is Dave Cordova

Meeting
Ben Seinfeld, from Councilman LaBonge’s office, opened the meeting & introduced
Captain Eric Davis from the Wilshire Division &
Captain Robert Arcos from the Olympic Division
(Captain Tina Nieto from Olympic Division was not able to come)

Captain Davis described the burglars and their method of operation. There is an actual increase this year over last of crimes in his area from 49 to 79.  Most of that increase is in car break-ins. The two divisions are working together using both undercover officers and visible patrols to solve and prevent these crimes. Davis said that the LAPD is very aware of a gang related, sophisticated group of criminals who use police scanners and work all over the city. They have been particularly active in Glendale, the Valley, our neighborhood and the South Bay, possibly because of the conjunction of large homes (where neighbors may not be able to see or overhear activity in homes which are often empty during the day), easy freeway and surface street access. There is a task force, called Knock-Knock, describing the criminals’ habit of knocking on the front door and moving the the rear if there is no answer. There have been arrests from this group, though sometimes it is for carrying burglary tools, which carries a much lighter sentence than burglary itself. The same group commit many different crimes (including drug related) so that they may be arrested not for the break-in but for something else.

Most criminal activity is between midnight and six a.m. and patrols have been shifted to reflect this. Four to six arrests have been made of people carrying break-in tools (hammers, etc.). Olympic has a new fingerprint specialist working in their Division on this and other issues. This month our divisions have begun using predictive computer modeling (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57412725/lapd-computer-program-prevents-crime-by-predicting-it/) of vulnerable areas to organize patrols to significant good effect.

Councilman LaBonge encouraged people to meet their neighbors and stay active in their neighborhood. John Darnell, representing the adjacent CD5 district led by Paul Koretz was at the meeting as well as additional CD10 staff.

Audience questions and comments followed. Questions were raised about the effectiveness of the LAPD Email Quick Alerts and system of reporting a crime. If a crime is in progress police should be called at 911 immediately & before a patrol company. If there is no active crime, the officers may be slower in responding. After the initial visit there will be crime scene analysts who will probably come much after the first officers and may be able to set an appointment to evaluate the scene.

Materials
Handouts included:
Home Security advice
Crime Prevention Tips for Seniors
Vehicle Security
Vacation Security
LA Government contacts

Additional article

LarchmontBuzz.com

(http://www.larchmontbuzz.com/hancock-park-news/lapd-addresses-community-safety-at-john-burroughs/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+larchmontbuzz%2FbPfH+%28Larchmont+Buzz%29)

CM

November 16th, 2011

7 pm

Ebell Club

743 S. Lucerne Blvd.

]]> http://www.windsorsquare.org/?feed=rss2&p=447 0 http://www.windsorsquare.org/?p=440 http://www.windsorsquare.org/?p=440#comments Mon, 05 Sep 2011 17:12:30 +0000 angelag http://www.windsorsquare.org/?p=440 Calling all Windsor Square Block Captains!

Last year’s event was such a great success, the WSA is holding its second annual Block Captains gathering on September 14, 2011, at the South Windsor Boulevard home of June and Paul Bilgore.   The theme of the event will be “Enhancing our Safety and Security.”  Look for the invitation email from WSA Block Captain Coordinator Wendy Savage.  Block Captains are more than welcome to request more details by writing to blockcaptains_at_windsorsquare_dot_org.   Hope to see you there.

Occasionally, despite all our efforts, things go awry.  We are currently mourning the loss of a large parkway tree – a ficus benjamina – due to the efforts of a developer intent on “flipping” the house at 207 N. Arden.   The tree in question, which was large enough to shade both sides of the parkway, was cut down on March 12^th, despite the request for a 10-day stay by Councilman Tom LaBonge, which was subsequently granted by Cynthia Ruiz, LA’s Commissioner of Public Works.  Unfortunately, the stay was not enforced by Assistant Chief City Forester Ron Lorenzen, and the tree was cut down anyway.   The WSA Board has yet to receive an answer from Ms. Ruiz’ and Mr. Lorenzen’s offices regarding why the stay was not enforced.

Ficus trees are known to have robust root systems, and the trees on Larchmont Boulevard wreaked havoc with the sidewalks a number of years ago.  However, instead of removing the trees, their roots were pruned, and the sidewalks restored.    The lesson for all Windsor Square residents is this:  we must remain involved, and vigilant, and cannot assume that the neighborhood’s best interests will be honored, even when we have the support of City officials.   Our city’s urban forest is constantly under assault, as is our desire to retain the local flavor in our neighborhoods.

We’d like to thank former WSA Board member Sean Elliott for his quick action on this issue, and encourage all Windsor Square residents to follow his example.   As always, contact information for any issue is available on the WSA website, www.windsorsquare.org.

–The WSA Board

The meeting agenda will include a review of Association activities for 2010, block captains, public safety, land use issues and other community concerns and speeches by commanders of local police stations and other civic officials. Association directors for 2011 will be elected and the Squeaky Wheel award will be presented to a neighbor whose persistent efforts improved the quality of life in Windsor Square in 2010.

The annual meeting is a good opportunity to socialize and discuss issues of mutual concern with Association directors, block captains and other Windsor Square residents, and to meet with police officers, civic officials, private security companies and others who provide services to our neighborhood.

The Windsor Square Association promotes public safety, social welfare, community education and the quality of living for the residents of 1,100 homes in Windsor Square, between Beverly Boulevard on the north and Wilshire Boulevard on the south, and between Arden Boulevard on the west and Van Ness Avenue on the east.

Please attend the Windsor Square Association annual “Town Hall” meeting and support your community.