Serious crimes in West Hollywood were up 40 percent last month over September 2014 according to a report presented last night to the city’s Public Safety Commission.
The report charts Part I crimes, which are crimes of violence such rape, assault and vehicle burglary. The largest number of such crimes — 52 — were categorized as petty thefts, which is theft of property with a value of $950 or less.
Grand theft, defined as theft of property worth more than $950, was the second largest category of Part I crimes, with 33 taking place in September, up 120 percent from the same month last year. The largest number of those crimes, 18, took place on the Westside. The next largest category was aggravated assault, with 17 incidents, up 55 percent from September 2014. All but three of those incidents took place on the city’s Westside, which is home to the gay nightlife district.
The Westside accounted for 70 of the 144 reported Part 1 crimes, including the only two incidents of rape reported in September. The Eastside accounted for 45 of the 144 crimes, with 25 of those petty thefts. The Center City area experienced 29 of the crimes reported in September.
Residential burglary was down 13 percent overall in September with seven cases reported in September. There was only one armed robbery reported as compared to two in September 2014.
Lots of factors at work here. “Realignment,” in a state budget move, many of those in prisons have been released to county facilities. Many low level, non violent offenders are being released early. On the few occasions I’ve called the Sheriff’s department, they’ve been very responsive and professional. The dramatic increase of “homeless” is another factor. My guess is that 85% of the homeless are mentally ill, probably due to permanent damage that meth can do to the brain. Please donate to legitimate homeless programs & the food bank. Don’t give homeless money. It might make you feel good, but… Read more »
If five people commit a crime this year and next year seven people do, that is equal to a forty percent rise in crime and then the next year their are only four crimes committed then that is a forty three percent drop but over the three year period it is only a .12% rise. It is better to look at rates over a period of time than to compare them year to year!
We Need our own police force. Clarion call. Hear it. Shout it loud. We need our own police force. If not that than more sheriffs. We are no longer some little ole village. We are a major city – attracting the scum, skank and scams that big cities do. More policing. Better policing. West Hollywood Police!
…but wait, i thought we were special and lived in a magical land where there is only love?
Jimmy, if people in weho don’t care enough to vote for the county sheriff right after an accidental shooting by the police, what makes you think they would care enough to vote for the city’s captain?
Sometimes I wonder if WehoVille is just a publication for the West side of West Hollywood or if it is for the whole City. It is always so slanted to the West side. Why doesn’t this article mention the percentages in the categories that have gone down on the West side (Strong Arm Robbery, Arson, GTA) or the increases in percentages on Strong Arm Robbery and Grand Theft on the East side.
We need an effective leader in the sheriffs department. This is out of hand. I think the Captain should be elected by the people, not assigned or chosen from within.
If WeHo transitioned to dumping the LACSD and creating our own, the immediate effect obviously would be a soaring crime rate. We’d lose institutional experience, end up with mostly newcomers/amateurs, the resources of coordination with the Sheriff’s force, and significantly higher costs to us. This is pie in the sky stuff. I doubt inaction or lack of expertise is the cause of this – it is a county-wide situation. And one month alone doesn’t make a definitive statement the way a full year’s stats do. Yes, this spike is of concern, and the Council, Public Safety Commission and SD all… Read more »
Despite the recent arrests of suspects in the rash of mailbox thefts, one of the local TVnews sources on Friday that yet ANOTHER such mail room burglary occurred in “a large building” somewhere in the 1000 block of Kings Rd–supposedly again using a UDPS master key, so apparently there are other thieves in the ring yet to be caught. The good news is security ceras this time got a close-up hi-def image that would have done Norma Desmond proud: almost able to read the brand of cigarette this creep had tucked behind his ear!
We need our own police force.
I know of one restaurant on Robertson Blvd who recently has had to hire security on certain nights.
This is alarming.