SR-106-012
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Mee"C.ing'18/83
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San"C.a Moni1lt Californ~a
REVISED
RE-v.
11-8
JAN 2 5 )93
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TO:
Mayor and City Councll
FROM:
City Staff
SUBJECT:
Report on the Ongoing Implementa"C.ion of City's
Community-based Crime Preven"C.lon Program;
Recommendation to Encer into a Contract
with ~he Mid-City Neighbors.
INTRODUCTION
This report provides Council Members with a status report on the
var20US components of the City's community-based crime prevention
program .
I1: recommends entering in"C.o a con"C.ract with a newly
incorporated community group, Mid-City Neighbors, for the amount
of $35,000 to organize neighborhood wa"C.ch groups in the area
roughly bounded by Lincoln, Santa Monica, W~lshire, and Cen"C.inela
Boul evards .
BACKGROUND
On February 23, 1982, the City Council approved the expenditure
of $418,629 during fiscal year 81 - 82 for the hiring and suppor"C.
expenses of 11 additional personnel to work in a variety of
pUblic safety programs pinpoin"C.ed by the City's Crime Prevention
Task Force. A budge"C. of $50,000 was set aside during last year's
budget
deliberacions
for community based crime prevention
programs WhlCh s"C.imula~e and support citizen involvement in crime
prevention organizing in the City's neighborhoods. The communl"C.Y
crime preven~ion budget as well as a $50,000 senior crime
resiscance grant from the State Office of Criminal Justice
Planning have been targeted for the tenant areas of the City
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JAN25 )'83
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where residen~ial burglaries are high and neighborhood watch
activ~~y has traditionally been the weakest. The combinatLon of
increased personnel and da~a collection capability in the Pollce
Department along with increased support for citizen initiative in
the area of crime prevention is helping San~a Monica to develop
the coordlnated and multi-faceted crime prevention program
manda~ed by City residen~s.
COMMUNITY RELATIONS DIVISION OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
During the past calendar year, the Community Relations Division
(eRD) of the Santa Monica Police Department
delivered the
following cr1me prevention services to commun~ty residents and
businesses:
247 commercial and 281 residen~ial security surveys
- 89 neighborhood watch
attendance of 2,114
meetings
with a cumulative
110 crime prevention presentations made to a combined
aud1ence of 4,800
- 600 deadbolt locks distributed to eligible senior
citizens, 80% of whom are apartment dwellers
In cooperation with the Latino Resource Organization (LRO),
special crime prevention programs have been developed for the
City's Spanish-speaking residents. Three home meetings have been
held and a Neighbornood Watch forum has been scheduled for
January 15, 1:30 pm in Virginia Park. Spanish-speaking personnel
from
the police department deliver the presentations with
assistance from CRD Staff.
In addi~1on, LRO lS provid1ng a
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Spanish translation of the Police Department film on home
security.
While the Main Street Business Alert continues to be the ~ost
active retail crime prevention group, the CRD in cooperation with
~he Senior Crime Resistance Program and the Mall Improvement
Committee is working to find means to reduce crime on the 3rd
Street Mall.
COMMUNITY-BASED CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
Various
studies
on the effectiveness of crime preven~ion
organizing in local communities have stressed the importance of
creating permanent citizen groupings which break down alienation
between residen~s and build a sense of mUtual responsibility for
neighborhood safety. Only by keeping neighborhood watch
organlzations alive over a long period of tlme can our citywide
crime prevention work hope to reduce the incidence of crime in
our community. The summaries which follow describe a variety of
program efforts WhICh are aimed at support for ongoing community
involvement in crime preVentIon work.
Senior Crime Resistance Program
This project has organized 32 block watch meetings in its 52
square block target area (from Lincoln to Ocean Avenue, Wilshire
to r>1ontana) over the past 9 months. In addition, the following
activities have been successfully initiated:
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a "walk waT.ch" which involves up to 25 seniors in a weekly
evening stroll '1:.0 "take back the streets" for local
residenT.s
- a senior crime resistance fair held in conJunction wi'C.h
T.he City's Commission on Older Americans which reached 400
citizens and dis'C.ributed 112 deadbolts locks to qualifying
senlors
- a "Mall Watch" begun in cooperation with the Mall
Improvement Committee and the Police Department
a victim assistance effort which has counselled to date 72
senior victims of crime
- an EmeriT.us College class on crime prevention for seniors
- a community awareness program held in cooperation with
local banks during the flrs'C. 3 days of the month as
seniors deposit their soclal security checks
As the program develops and works towards establishing the
apartment
and
block
watch groups as permanen'C. community
groupings,
the following actlvi'C.ies are planned for the comlng
ye ar :
expanding the target area to include Lincoln to 20th
Stree'C., Wilshire to Mon'C.ana and organizing watch
meetings in that area
producing a community newsletter which focusses on
crime prevention and neighborhood information
bringing the residen'C.s together to designate a name
for their area of the cammUnlty
developing a board of directors
restructuring staffing paT.terns to allow for an
outreach worker responsible for door-to-door contact
work
Emphasis on reaching seniors will continue to be a focus of the
project
on
the neighborhood level as well
as in victim
assistance,
general community education,
production of a senior
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alert newslet~er, and a new senior theater presentation on bunco
schemes.
It is anticipated that this project will be supported by a grant
from the Office of Crimlnal Justice Planning (wlth a required
12,000 C~ty cash match) only through April, 1984. (A proposal
covering this time period will be submitted during the regular
1983-84 Community Service Grant process). When sta~e monies are
terminated, it is expected the group will approach the City for
continuing opera~lng funds.
Volunteer Tralning Wor~shop
The City offered a one day tralnlng program on OCtober 29 which
drew 25 communlty residents anxious to learn ~he me~hods which
are most successful in bringing and keeping neighbors together in
block watch organiZatlOns. Sherry SylveSter, Program Manager for
Portland's Oregon's Neighborhood Crime Prevention Program offered
a very useful and enJoyable 5 hour training program for citizens
representing all areas of the City. Twelve citizens are already
regis~ered for a second workshop to be held in February.
Santa Monlca Mid-City Neighbors
A newly established community group, formed with the help of the
Unitarian Service Committee, has applied to the City for funding
as part of the Community Crlme Prevention Program. Granted
modeSt start-up funding by the Los Angeles Missionary Society and
the Liberty Hl1l Foundation, the group has determined that crime
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and fear of crime are issues of great concern to neighborhood
residen~s.
After choosing an interim Board of Direc~ors,
Mid-C1ty Neighbors has deslgned a workplan of activities which
will draw a designated area of the City (Llncoln ~o Cen~inela,
Wilshire to Santa Monica Boulevards)
into Crime prevention and
neighborhood development activities.
Mid-City Neighbors encompasses an area which is 20% senior
citizens,
80%
renters, has a median household income of
approximately $15,200 and houses 12.4% of the population of ~he
City. The area sus~ained 15.2% of all residen~ial burglaries and
15.5% of all commercial burglaries in the City during the past 6
months.
Out of approxlma~ely 150 sea~s held on Ci~y Boards,
Commissions and Task Force only 6 are held by people from the
Mid-City area.
On December 29,
1982 C1ty staff received a formal request for
funding from Mid-City Neighbors. The proJect objectives include
the following activities:
- holding 18 block or area meetings (with at least 12
related to crime prevention) in the next 6 months
forming 3 neighborhood issue committees, one of which
will deal with community crime prevention
- developing a fund raising capacity to include the
establishment of membership fees
- leadership development on the block and neighborhood
level
dis~ributing updated crime information related to the
occurrence of cr1mes in the i~mediate area
- recruiting area block residen~s to participate in
City-sponsored crime prevention train1ng workshops
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providing a direct beneflt public safety service to
low and moderate income resldents of the identlfled
area by aiding in deadbol~ lock installation and
security surveys.
Long term goals of the project are in line with City objectives
to establish ongoing community organizations which seek to
involve the broades~ possible range of neighborhood residents in
crime prevention and neighborhood improvement activities.
The grant reques~ is for $45,027. City Staff recommends funding
the program for $35,000 based on the availability of funds for
community crime prevention programs.
Through the phasing-in of
staff and reductions in expenditures for office equipment, it is
felt the project can meet the budget constraints and at ~he same
time offer the needed services to the targeted community. ThlS
budget allocation will be for the period of time ending on June
30, 1983.
As a group funded ln this flscal year, Mid-Clty
Nelghbors wlll be an approved applicant within the budgetary
process
previously
authorized by Council for next year's
community service program. The proposal for next year's funding
will be submi~ted to Council for review in conJunction with
community services programs for fiscal year '83-'84.
Crime Prevention Program Visibility
An a~tractive crime prevention poster has been produced by
Mirkwood Productions,
a local firm owned by tWO City residentS
active in a neighborhood wa~ch group. Pic~uring residents and
city staff who are involved in crime preven~ion activities, the
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poster will be dis~ributed widely ~o schools, libraries and local
businesses to draw at~en~ion to the C~tywide effort underway.
A brief ~raining slide show is also being planned which will
prov1de an introduction for new block groups on how to organize
effectively for crime preven~ion.
Additional Activities
By early February a new crime preven~ion specialist will be hired
to work actively with neighborhood groups and run volunteer
training workshops. Shortly thereafter a community crime
prevention coordinating council will be convened to provide
communication between active local groups.
STREET LIGHTS
In response to requests from City Council and the Manager's
Staff, the Rent Control Board held a meeting on November 20,
1982, to discuss proposed C1~y leg1slation creating
tenant-initiated special assessment districts for s~reet
lighting.
The Board asked staff to do the following:
1. RequeSt the City Attorney to determine if costs could be
distributed equally among all units in a specLal
assessment district rather than by parcel under current
procedures;
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2. Determine
the level of tenant interest in street
lighting, including tenant willingness to accept a major
or total share of the probable costs. Working with
Beverly Sanborne of the Senlor Crime Resistance ProJect,
a survey is being distributed among tenants in the
western end of the Wilshire Corridor to measure interest
in street lights and wLllingness to participate in
covering cost of installation (survey form attached):
3. To clarify the procedures and administration of tenant
initiated petitions for City services in the following
areas:
a. What procedures will the City establish to solicit
and accept tenant initiated petitions? (e.g. what
precentage of tenants must sign per building, per
block?)
b. What agency will be responsible for evaluating
petitions and how will costS be estimated per unit?
c. What procedures will be applied to blocks where use
is mixed: residen~ial/commercial, apartment/single
family, apartment/condo, etc.?
These questions require consideration by staff before further
action can be taken by the Rent Control Board.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that Council authorize the Ci~y Manager to
negotiate and execute a con~ract in the amount of $35,000 wi~h
Mid-City Neighbors for the period of February l, 1983 through
June 30, 1983 from Community Crime Prevention funds (account
~OI-700-274-000-687) .
Prepared by: VIVIAN ROTHSTEIN
Co~unity Liaison
Attachment: Mid-City Ne~ghbors Request for Funding
Stree~lighting Survey
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