Bob DeCosentine sat in for Sgt. Beacham who had to work Wednesday evening.
In the crime report, Bob reported that since our last meeting a robbery took
place on Weir Street. Also, on January 24th, between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m., an
incident involving gun shots was reported. In the area of Weir Street and Mesmer
a black man, in a vehicle with an open sunroof, stood up and fired 24 shots
into the air. Helicopters came out but it is not known if he was apprehended.
Bob mentioned that some helicopters are silent and some can be heard.
Bob cautioned attendees to keep an eye on their pets. Apparently someone in
the area is stealing small animals. A Chihuahua was taken from a yard on Marshall
Street.
Sal Grammatco commented that the lights at the schools are turned off at night
and people jump the fences and commit crimes on the school grounds. Sal suggested
the lights be kept on all night.
Bob mentioned the Pacific Division is starting a Civilian Surveillance Team
and is looking for male and female adults to participate in patrolling eight
designated areas. The Civilian Surveillance Teams go out at night, up to 4:00
a.m. in the morning, and patrol the streets in our division. One person drives
while the other functions as the radio person. If a problem is observed, it
is radioed to a policeman designated for the area. If there is a problem, the
officers set up a surveillance team (work out how many officers they need and
where they will be located).
Bob mentioned if we see tagging or graffiti, to call 311, take a picture of
the graffiti and give the picture to the lead officer for the area. He cautioned
those painting out the graffiti or taking pictures of it to be careful. The
taggers are shooters.
Primarily the graffiti in our area is done by the Bayshore Crips and the Culver
City Boyz. The Santa Monica gang members come through our area but are not yet
established.
Bob advised residents to cut down shrubbery under the windows of their homes
to the height of the window sill to prevent burglars from hiding in the shrubbery
to break in.
A meeting will be held February 16th at 2:00 p.m. in the City of Culver City
Council Chambers regarding traffic flow and patterns on Washington, Culver,
etc.
In our area, a fight between two men resulted in one of them being shot to death.
Bob passed out a flyer on a robbery suspect operating in the Westchester area
who is armed and uses his gun. He is a black male 5’ 10”–
6’ tall, 180-230 pounds, 30-45 years old, medium complexion and thin mustache.
He possibly rides a black mountain bike. Do not engage the suspect as he may
be armed and dangerous.
One meeting attendee complained that the police station light near Campbell
is out and asked that it be replaced. She was told that the reason for the street
lamp being out is because the lamps are being changed from sodium to mercury
vapor.
Any volunteers working on clean up on the police grounds should first go to
the front desk for a visitor sticker before beginning work. Any work being done
should be confined to the front of the building and the side along Centinela.
Do not enter the parking area.
There was a discussion of what to do for Sergeant Beacham’s going away
farewell. Take donations for a gift? Have a potluck? Take a group picture? Present
him with a gold pen?
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Brier