The inconvenient truth is that our city is no longer the vibrant hub it once was. Empty storefronts and stalled developments have turned parts of West Hollywood into wastelands, and the blight is slowly spreading.
As I’ve connected with residents, one concern stands out the most: crime. Some residents have been direct victims, while others are considering leaving West Hollywood out of fear of becoming the next victim.
Crime has risen throughout Los Angeles County, but West Hollywood is different due to its unique composition. West Hollywood residents are professionals, creatives, and families, with a socioeconomic profile that does not fit the typical pattern of a city plagued by high crime rates. Income and educational levels are well above the national average, which usually correlates with lower crime rates.
Yet, looking at the data, West Hollywood is one of the most crime-ridden cities in the nation, surpassing the crime rates of densely populated urban centers like Boston, San Francisco, and New York. In the area near W Sunset Blvd and W Holloway (which houses the Sunset Plaza), residents face a 1 in 11 chance of becoming a victim of property theft (vehicle theft, larceny, burglary, property theft) and a 1 in 74 chance of falling victim to violent crime (rape, murder, assault, robbery). Other areas in the city also experience high crime rates.
In the coming weeks, I will provide an analysis of the various neighborhoods that make up West Hollywood. Each of these neighborhoods has its own unique characteristics and challenges that require tailored solutions. From the upscale zones near W Sunset Blvd and the West Hollywood Park to Plummer Park, I will examine socioeconomic factors, population density, and crime data, and propose potential interventions specific to each neighborhood.
In the meantime, as I conduct my spatial analysis of West Hollywood, please stay safe.
so we can just make claims without a single scrap of evidence explaining where our data comes from? is this the level of due dilligence we can expect from you as a councilmember rachel?
I submitted the following sources to the publisher when I submitted the article for consideration:
FBI Crime Data Explorer, FBI UCR – Crime in the United States Report, Neighborhoodscout.com
Thank you for bringing light to this.
In our experience, the city just doesn’t care that much about crime. In many cases they openly allow it. Our friend at Block Party says that he loses hundred of dollars in theft that is allowed by government and law enforcement. Another friend runs the licensed food wagon on the southwest corner of Robertson at Santa Monica Boulevard. He looks out to the Abbey, Mother Lode, Beaches and clear to Palm to the line of food carts that are not taxed or licensed. They also block the sidewalks (public safety). They often sell alcohol on the streett. We have seen… Read more »
Recall, the ludicrous Shye, immediately after taking office, proposed reimagining police defense in the city.
I’m one who strongly believes we need to fix our crime problems. I will say, just as the far left here manipulates statistics to call our police officers racist, these numbers leave out the biggest population in West Hollywood: tourists. Crime stats for this city are based on the number of residents: 35,000. Based on tourism data, 70,000 people visit West Hollywood each week. We also have workers from all over the city here in a 1.9 square mile area on a daily basis. My point is any numbers are very skewed versus anywhere else in the nation.
Our mailboxes were broken into a few days ago and emptied of its contents. It was caught on camera. Without me getting specific about the appearance of the thief I will only say that it is highly unlikely this guy lives in WeHo or would come here to shop or for entertainment. At first glance any of us would think, “this guy doesn’t belong here!”.
Yes, the sheriff took a report and the post office investigators were notified.
Exactly. That is why our number of deputies needs to reflect our real life nighttime population of 100,000 plus rather than our residential population of 36,000.00. But the focus on the stats as “facts” may be a pointless exercise; the people of West Hollywood deserve to be safe and feel safe. If the residents want more deputies, that should be the City’s priority. Blaming the current concerns regarding public safety as “fearmongering” is just unhelpful and trivializes residents’ concerns.
I just got a phone call asking for my support for Erickson and Hang (they’re a team!). Block, Nickel, and you had better start doing the same or we’re going to have the city council from hell!
I’m not sure how this comports with the crime statistics released by the West Hollywood LASD office. Last I checked, those numbers were not up significantly. Not to say that there aren’t crimes (and some of them violent), but it seems there’s a significant discrepancy. I spoke with a deputy over the weekend who also backed up the lower numbers (as compared to 1-2 years prior). This should be a pure matter of facts and statistics.
Well you put a population of relatively well-to-do residents, people wearing expensive jewelry and driving flashy cars coming into town to party their a$$es off and a city council majority that thinks Tofu Tuesdays and scooter lanes are money better spent than cameras or cops. Is it any wonder that WeHo feel like the Wild Wild West?
LA is now one of many cities….that have gone over the tipping point.
The people who are now being elected into office…..are sympathetic to those who are destroying it.
LA, Seattle, Portland, SF, Chicago, Baltimore, DC, Memphis, Atlanta etc etc.
Thank you for the clear voice with statics; statics that I believe are not run through city hall and our Mayor Boss Hogg. Lies and propaganda dressed up in progressive politics and accompanied by Unite Here flashy non-recyclable mailers. We need to take back this city. I’ve been to your website and read it; your priorities are spelled out clearly. The is no mistaking what you believe will benefit West Hollywood.
West Hollywood has been a popular venue for roving criminals even before cityhood. I think little has changed in that respect. My house was “burglarized” twice.my car once since 1974, the year we moved to WEHO. As I read the weekly Crime Blotter in the La Brea press newspaper , I still wonder why it differs so much from the LASD reports. Once the city had a very active WATCH program. Where is it now? We never go out on the streets without our MACE, ready to fend off unwanted attentions from a vagrant (are we still allowed to say… Read more »
No, not quite. I’ve lived in WeHofur over three decades and it was never like this, ever, until a few years ago thanks to the woke-joke politics of our delusional leaders. Never was it like it is now with the out-of-control crime.
It won’t be long before criminals are renamed here like in Illinois: “justice-impacted individuals.”
The Mayor insists that the numbers reflect a reduction in crime but long term residents clearly believe differently. While crime never never absent, long time residents recall the safer streets we had pre-COVID and before WeHo’s “defunding” efforts. Women walking dogs at 11 pm during the summer was not an uncommon sight. Today the crime seems more violent and personal. Efforts by Supervisor Lindsay Horvath to close Men’s Central jail without a replacement facility will only insure we have more professional criminals on WeHo streets.
Mayors who fail to recognize reality have no business being mayor.
NO, they don’t. We need to make sure Erickson is voted OUT.
I took notice of an increase in crime with the opening of pot shops.
There may or may not be a connection.
There’s a lot of talk about Vision Zero on traffic fatalities and it is a noble and admirable goal while recognizing that we can’t fully eliminate human error in the equation. Why is there no talk of Vision Zero on crime and also recognize that while a noble and admirable goal the human condition is one in which we will not eliminate crime entirely? To simply dismiss resident concerns as fearmongering, and to cite any short-term trends without the vision of zero crime is political malpractice and a bankrupt failure of leadership. The snark on this issue that emanates from… Read more »
I look forward to your articles. It is important that the public stays informed and aware of what happens and is happening around us. I hope West Hollywood Councilmembers and city staff read since they are the ones with power to change these statistics. If they don’t we need to make sure our voices are heard at the ballot box this November.
One note I would be interested to know is why no Block By Block Security Ambassadors are ever visible on Sunset Blvd.