www.palisadesnews.com
June 24 - July 28, 2022 Volume 35, Issue 61
Two Additional Beach Patrol Officers Assigned to Pacific Palisades Officers will patrol the area through the summer B y S am C atanzaro Two additional police officers will be coming to the beach around the Pacific Palisades this summer. At its meeting on June 9, the PPCC unanimously passed a motion to approve a letter requesting Council District 11 discretionary funds to allow for the assignment of additional officers to the LAPD Palisades Beach Detail this summer. There are currently two members of the Beach Detail, LAPD Officers Margin and Bermudez. The PPCC says, however, that these two officers are being stretched thin due to increased homelessness in the area. The PPCC writes it would like to see at least four but no fewer than two more officers to aid Officers Margin and Bermudez. “An influx of visitors to our beach and hillside areas regularly occurs during the summer months. Families flock to the beaches and many children and young adults participate in summer camps and the Junior Lifeguards program at Will Rogers State Beach. At the same time, the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness (PPTFH) informs us that many
more persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) traditionally come here in the summer and are already beginning to arrive in greater numbers this year,” the PPCC writes. “The efforts of our Beach Detail are critical to maintaining public safety, but will be stretched thin with the increased numbers of PEH and other visitors expected during the coming months. Last summer, we were fortunate to have four additional officers assigned to the Beach Detail – for a total of six officers. We need the same number of officers assigned this summer. Their efforts are critical to ensure and maintain public safety for everyone – community members, beach visitors, PPTFH volunteers, outreach workers and PEH alike.” “We understand that CD11 has discretionary funds which may be used to fund overtime for additional officers to be assigned to the Palisades Beach Detail. We’re also told that Councilmember Koretz has authorized the use of CD 5 discretionary funds for overtime for additional LAPD West Division patrol officers in Westwood and other areas of that District,” the letter continues. Councilmember Bonin’s office, however, told Palisades News that discretionary funds will be used towards combating homelessness, saying that the LAPD budget is at a record high already.
LAPD Beach Detail officers arrest a person for sleeping in a restricted area this spring.
“The budget for the Los Angeles Police Department is at a record high, dwarfing expenditures for everything else in the city. For the remainder of Councilmember Bonin’s time in office, he is focusing use of his discretionary dollars on efforts to address the homelessness crisis and on strategies to prevent homelessness. He is funding shared housing programs and organizations doing outreach and providing casework to unhoused individuals, and he is providing money to groups working to prevent homelessness and support people at risk of homelessness, such as tenants, foster youth, and survivors of domestic violence,” reads the statement from
Photo: LAPD
Bonin’s office. Last week, however, the PPCC announced in a newsletter that two additional beach patrol officers have been assigned to the Palisades due to LAPD administrative changes. “We are pleased to learn now that Capt. Jonathan Tom, LAPD West Division Commander, has advised PPTFH that he has been able, through administrative changes, to assign two additional beach patrol officers to the Palisades this summer!” the PPCC said. “We are grateful for this positive outcome and thank Capt. Tom for his ongoing strong support for the public safety of our community.”
Pacific Palisades Hillside Task Force Surveys Encampments and Fire Hazards Second annual survey takes place last month B y D olores Q uintana
On May 18, The Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness met with other local enforcement agencies at Will Rogers State Beach to search the Palisades hillsides for encampments and the unhouse people living in them as reported by the Palisadian Post. Other agencies that joined the search include the California State Rangers, Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Rangers and The People’s Concern. Captain Jonathan Tom, commanding officer of LAPD’s West LA division, said, as quoted by the Palisadian Post, “This is our second hillside task force, last year was our first one. This is really about collaborating. The reality is we all put this together, all of us are really limited in our resources, so it’s ideal for us to come together, and to recommit that we are here to help and [are] here for each other.” at the event. Co-President Sharon Kilbride, Carmen
Kallberg, Lou Kamer, Bruce Schwartz and Cindi Young were the leaders of the PPTFH team of volunteers. The People Concern’s outreach team was comprised of Jessi Cortez, Supervisor Jason Flores and Glanda Sherman. Kilbride said, as quoted by the Palisadian Post, “Since 2016, we’ve been removing camps from hillsides and getting people housed. There’s been over 160 camps. We did all the work, and now we’re just maintaining the hillside to make sure that nobody [is] living there … we have our task force with my volunteers, who are out daily engaging and looking for new encampments. She added, as quoted by the Palisadian Post, “Hopefully we won’t find anything today. Our partnership with LAPD is a fabulous thing and that’s why we’ve been so successful.” The group’s of volunteers searched Castellammare, Corona Del Mar bluffs, Los Liones Trail, Marquez Canyon, Palisades Drive into the Highlands, Temescal Gateway Park to the El Medio Trail and Via de las Olas bluffs which are all areas where encampments have been found previously. The groups searched all over the area keeping an eye out for encampments, any potential fire threats and unhoused people.
Veronica de la Cruz, LA City Deputy City Attorney, was on the scene to help the task force and said, as quoted by the Palisadian Post, “I think it’s important to highlight the partnerships between the community and law enforcement. This is an area they’ve had a long-standing relationship [with] due to the safety reasons. It’s important to enforce our hillsides and our fire safety zones. It’s nice to see people rallying around the cause of public safety and especially at a time when we are heading into fire season. Graffiti and debris were found behind the Pacific Coast Highway wall, indicative of recent activity. PPTFH cleared and removed items like shovels and trash.” PPTFH was launched in October 2014 and has led the Pacific Palisades in its attempts to address the issue of homelessness. Captain Tom had praise for PPTFH noting their dedication and success in ensuring the safety of the unhoused population of the Palisades and the community itself. Kilbride said, as quoted by the Palisadian Post, “This is a good collaboration of all agencies to ensure the fire safety of our hillsides and the safety of our homeless population because they are also subjected
Photo: Sam Catanzaro The LAFD combats a brush fire burning in the bluffs above Pacific Palisades in 2021.
to danger because of fire and because of rattlesnakes and wild animals. We need more people to volunteer on the Volunteer Response Team that I lead, as we need more sets of eyes on the ground and the community. If they are hiking on trails and they see a camp, they need to let us know … if they see an actual camp, they need to call 911 and report it.” Finally, Kilbride noted, as quoted by the Palisadian Post, “The entire Palisades is surrounded by hillsides, so everyone needs to have that in the back of their head, that it’s not safe to live in the hillside. If you see something, say something.”