By Mary O’KEEFE

Two recent community meetings highlighted how law enforcement was working with other agencies and the community to help combat burglaries and other crimes in the area.

The first meeting took place on Feb. 28 and was held at the La Crescenta Library. It was led by members of the Crescenta Valley Town Council and CV Chamber of Commerce. Representatives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept.-Crescenta Valley Station as well as from Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) were there to talk about recent burglaries in the area and how to prepare for the next disaster.

Capt. Christopher Blasnek of the CV Sheriff’s Station told the audience that the burglaries, residential and vehicular, had decreased in the previous week; however, the department is continuing its patrols, including volunteers on patrol who were well represented in the audience. LASD is the law enforcement agency responsible for La Crescenta/Montrose, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, and La Cañada Flintridge, which is a contract city.

Blasnek said that both areas are well staffed and that the response times for both are impressive.

“I am held accountable for every minute and every call,” he said.

The response times include: Emergency calls, which require the quickest response, is 4.2 minutes for La Cañada Flintridge and three minutes for La Crescenta/Montrose. Priority calls response times are 5.7 minutes in La Cañada Flintridge, 5.8 minutes in La Crescenta/Montrose. For routine calls, meaning there is no threat at the time, the response time is 16.7 minutes for La Cañada Flintridge and 17.4 minutes for La Crescenta.

Similar topics were covered at the La Cañada meeting held on Monday, March 5 at the Lanterman Auditorium. This meeting was hosted by the City of La Cañada Flintridge and LASD. It was conducted by the city’s mayor, Michael Davitt, and the city’s Public Safety Commission helped organize the event.

The focus was on the recent residential burglaries in the city and how the department patrols the area. Like in La Crescenta, the deputies have stepped up the number of traffic stops they conduct and have increased their citation writing and their presence in the area. These actions have resulted in some arrests.

The City of La Cañada was able to secure another patrol vehicle that reads license plates quickly as cars drive by. The station already had one patrol car with that technology, which was used in both areas; now another one will be dedicated to La Cañada.

Discussion was held about how law enforcement was combatting crime, not only in the area, but also across the state. The problem was also examined in order to find a possible reason for an increase in crime across California.

Michele Hanisee, president, Association of Deputy District Attorneys – Los Angeles, spoke about what she had experienced since the passage of AB 109. The bill transfers responsibility for housing some felons from out-of-state prisons to county jails, shifts the supervision of some released felons from state parole to county probation and reduces penalties for violation of terms of release.

Prop 47 was another measure that voters passed. The intent of this was to reduce sentences for drug possession to a misdemeanor and made all thefts under $950 a misdemeanor, even for repeat offenders. The intent of another passed measure, Prop. 57, was to allow for early release of “non-violent” inmates from state prisons.

In theory, these voter approved laws seemed to be reasonable, but in practice they have caused career criminals to be released from prison and, it is the opinion of many in law enforcement, it is at the foundation of the increased crime statistics.

Oliver Chu also spoke at the La Cañada event. He is the lead in a campaign titled “Taking Back Our Communities” that is a coalition of municipalities dedicated to educate the public on the unintended adverse effects of these laws.

Senator Anthony Portantino was also at the event. He said he did not support AB 109. The senator was able to give insight into how Sacramento looks at these types of proposals and what new proposals are being presented to right the negative unintended issues they caused.

CVW will look deeper into AB 109, Prop 47 and Prop 57 and the campaign “Taking Back Our Community” in future editions.

  Mary Okeefe, robin goldsworthy