Concerned Brentwoodians gathered via Zoom on August 28 to brainstorm strategies intended to reduce crime in the area.
In recent months, there has been an alarming rise in robberies, including invasion break-ins that take place even while residents are at home.
Criminals, including well-financed “burglary tourists” from South America, have become highly sophisticated in their approaches to thievery.
Some know how to quickly find and cut wires that enable alarm and security cameras to function. Even wireless systems can be overcome by wifi jammers.
Some theft rings even fly drones to scope out houses, looking for homes that appear to have nobody inside.
Carolyn Jordan, chairwoman of the Brentwood Community Council, organized the meeting.
She invited several local speakers – and public officials – to discuss crime-fighting approaches that are working or that should at least be explored.
One speaker, who lives on Homewood, described his block’s anti-crime program. First, this neighborhood hired ACS, a private security firm, to patrol the neighborhood at all times of day and night.
All participants in the area communicate regularly via WhatsApp, a group texting platform. If anyone sees something suspicious, everyone nearby knows about it quickly.
This Homewood organization also invested in a “Flock” camera system that takes pictures of license plates and then compares the license plate numbers against a database of known cars that frequent the neighborhood.
Should a burglary occur, chances are good the Flock system will have captured the license plate of all vehicles in the neighborhood at the time of the crime.
This gives the LAPD hugely valuable information that can be used to chase down perpetrators, said Brentwood’s Senior Lead Officer Matthew Kirk.
City Councilwoman Traci Park said 90 percent of every working day is spent on crime and public safety issues. Fighting crime was a central thrust of her election campaign in 2022. Park encouraged attendees to continue to bolster community watch efforts. “It takes a village” was stated several times.
Park said the city is studying Flock, Motorola, and other camera systems. It would be far more efficient, Park noted if everyone involved in crime prevention used the same system. With an integrated system, data can be quickly shared and analyzed.
Park said she hoped a decision will come quickly as to which system will emerge as the preferred way to go but noted city bureaucracy often gets in the way of quick decisions.
Park said the ranks of the LAPD now stand at around 8,800, down from 10,000 a few years ago. Recruiting is difficult these days, she said. Having more police officers will go a long way toward reducing crime, she added.
Senior Lead Officer Matt Kirk said robbers from South Central are quite brazen and pay little attention to security cameras. They just pull up their hoodies, making it hard to identify them.
He said street-level cameras like those built by Flock often capture videos of home invaders before they pull up their hoodies.
The bad guys often park several houses away from their targeted residence, hoping to avoid getting caught on a security camera, according to Kirk.
Nathan Hochman, Brentwood resident now running for LA County District Attorney, promised to be tough on crime if elected.
More tips from Carolyn Jordan and other participants:
1) If your property backs up to a canyon, point at least one of your security cameras in that direction. Criminals know to avoid cameras facing the street and can come from less obvious directions;
2) If you have an alarm system, use it. Many burglaries take place in homes with alarm systems that aren’t turned on;
3) There is a thick film that can be applied to windows, making them harder to break and
4) Last but not least, get a dog.
