With Westwood jewelry stores falling victim to recent crimes,
concerns about safety in the Village have arisen among local
business owners.
According to university police crime logs, Michael K. Jewelers
on Broxton Avenue was robbed on June 9.
Police reports also state that the suspect was last seen at an
alley east of Gayley Avenue as he fled the scene. He was said to
have been driving either a black Lexus or blue Toyota, and was
described by one witness as a juvenile wearing a red hat and black
shirt.
Though a person was detained at the Westwood Whole Foods Market,
he did not turn out to be the suspect.
In a separate incident, Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers was
allegedly burglarized in what was described as a “grab and
run,” with no threat of entry. According to owner Jeffrey
Abell, the crime occurred when a young man who was looking at items
“jumped up and ran” with the items.
He added that he did not think the burglary was due to a lack of
police protection. Abell explained that security procedures already
put in place at his store were not being followed when the crime
occurred, and that if they had been followed more strictly the
crime would not have occurred.
“I think we had a lapse in our security that allowed this
one, and it’s been taken care of and it’s not going to
happen again,” he said.
He said that during the 57 years that his business has been in
Westwood, it has only been burglarized once or twice before this
incident.
Reports from multiple sources implicate another recent robbery
that occurred at Morgan & Co. Jewellers, but these reports are
unconfirmed.
According to Nancy Greenstein, director of police community
services, UCPD has scaled down its patrol in the past few months so
that resources could be directed toward campus needs.
She also said UCPD would still respond to calls, but that the
West Los Angeles Division of the Los Angeles Police Department is
now the primary source and should be called first.
Officer Nathan Ewert of the WLAPD believes the transition is
beneficial. He said there are crimes which the UCPD is not equipped
to handle and WLAPD has taken over a lot of its cases out of
courtesy.
Though the scaling back of UCPD in the Westwood area might leave
local businesses feeling more susceptible to crime, WLAPD is
compensating for the loss of UCPD patrol by bringing more of its
officers to the area.
Abell, one of the business owners who started the Westwood
Village Business Watch in January, said he was more concerned that
the Village has adequate coverage than which department takes
responsibility for it.
“I don’t care who covers it as long as it gets
covered,” he said.
This Wednesday, Westwood Village Business Watch members will
have a meeting held at Jerry’s Famous Deli, hosted by the
WLAPD.
The objectives of the meeting, according to West L.A.
Online’s Web site, are to discuss the enforcement of
transient issues and answer the questions and concerns of local
merchants and property owners.
The WLAPD will also use the meeting to introduce new LAPD
Westwood Village foot patrol officers that will begin covering the
local area.
As of now, the area is covered by WLAPD bike patrol
officers.
Abell, who calls patrolmen “a big piece of protection for
us,” believes the addition of more foot patrol officers in
the Westwood area will help deter crime by keeping criminals out of
the area.