Submitted by the Pacific Palisades Community Council
LAPD Senior Lead Officer, Brian Espin reported on an attempted rape at Will Rogers Beach on Saturday, February 4th at 6:30 p.m., when a woman was grabbed and threatened with sexual assault by a male brandishing a bladed weapon. He forced her to walk up toward the street, where she was able to break away. In his weekly report recap, he said crime was up, but no decipherable trends or patterns could be detected by officers or detectives.
Detectives have made an arrest on a burglary a few weeks ago, which was determined to have been related to a South End gang. Burglars are disabling power to the house (from back yard access) and disable Wi-Fi cameras. This also limits notifications, so LAPD recommends putting a lock on the area where power feeds into the home Wi-Fi.
SLO Espin mentioned, for the second time, the Sentry mode of Tesla cars which have been helpful to detectives in solving crimes. He also suggests security cameras facing the street.
SLO Espin reported that a student in the Paul Revere Middle School crosswalk was hit by a car driven by a parent. The student sustained leg injuries and was transported to the hospital.
Courtney Macker, Organizational Representative for PPRA expressed concern about the attempted rape and the delay in reporting the incident. She felt the fact that the community was informed by sources other than the Senior Lead Officer was alarming. Others agreed and SLO Espin said the Department had acknowledged the delay in communication and was working on a better, more effective, strategy to get information out to the community in the event that the SLO is unavailable.
The Chair said she would work with LAPD to organize a community safety town hall style meeting to discuss this, and other, public safety concerns – including emergency preparedness and fire event evacuations that were a community wide concern. She reported that Captain Heredia had agreed to attend the meeting and provide candid information.
Jessica Rogers, Alternate for PPRA, asked if the dedicated beech patrol mentioned by Captain Heredia as having been allocated to the community, is still intact. SLO Espin confirmed that the beech patrol is dedicated to the Palisades and is in fact still operating in the Palisades. He informed the board that they included, Officer Bermudez (P3), Officer Vaije (probationary Officer), Officer Kufian and Officer Liam. SLO Espin made clear that the beach patrol also scours the bluffs and the village.
Krishna Thangavelu, PPCC WRAC PSEPC Committee, suggests there must be a crisis communication methodology in place so that lapses such as this one do not take place. She reiterated the importance of adequate staffing for LAPD.
