Public Safety Campaign Kicked-Off
in San Fernando Valley

by Wendy Greuel

With the dramatic rise in gang violence in the San Fernando Valley, we need to take proactive steps to keep our neighborhoods safe.  Last month we took definitive action toward cleaning up our streets by standing together to declare a war against graffiti in Council District 2.

At a public safety forum I hosted with the LAPD and the LAUSD, Deputy Chief Michel Moore outlined the " broken windows" method of fighting crime, which suggests that in order to prevent violent crimes we must also crack down on petty crimes like graffiti.  Mattresses illegally dumped in a back alley, tags covering the sidewalk in front of a new business or a window left un-repaired, all contribute to a feeling of lawlessness and permissibility in our neighborhoods.  Deputy Chief Moore reminded us that the best defense against this potential decline in neighborhood safety is an engaged and active community.

Joined by 300 concerned residents at our town hall meeting, we announced a community-driven anti-graffiti campaign.  All urban blight contributes to the progressive deterioration of neighborhood safety, but no vandalism is more inherently tied to violence and gang activity than graffiti.

The first step in fighting graffiti is reporting it.  The city provides graffiti-removal services and commits to removing tags from major thoroughfares within 24 to 48 hours of receiving notice.  But the city depends on us to identify these blighted hot spots. We all need to take responsibility for the vandalism in our neighborhoods by calling 311 to report it. 

I also introduced an "adopt a wall" program that will allow community groups, Neighborhood Watches and even individual families to take responsibility for local graffiti hot-spots.  By adopting a wall, the group commits at least to reporting vandalism; and the more ambitious community members can receive training and supplies to paint out the graffiti themselves.

In order to prevent tagging we are going to increase the number of Neighborhood Watches in our district.  Our Senior Lead Officers attended the community meeting and offered training to community members interested in joining or forming a Neighborhood Watch.

We will continue to take action in this public-safety campaign.  In the coming weeks I will sponsor a district-wide graffiti-removal operation.  We are looking at ways to increase support for our graffiti removal agencies.  And of course, our police force is increasing its tools to keep our neighborhoods safe.  At our community meeting, Deputy Chief Moore gave a powerful presentation on the ways in which the LAPD is re-distributing resources to better fight gang violence in the San Fernando Valley.

 The sheer number of attendees at our public safety meeting, and the enthusiastic follow up calls I have received, are testaments to the strength and commitment of our community.  I know that together we can keep our neighborhoods safe and clean.