Westwood merchants turned Village watchdogs will now be on the
lookout for the well-being of each other’s businesses as part
of the upcoming Business Watch.
The Business Watch will rely on the active participation of
local merchants and their unified cooperation with each other and
with law enforcement to reduce crime and make the area more
comforting for both merchants and shoppers.
“This will be an outstanding opportunity to strengthen our
community policing partnerships and to identify policing strategies
for 2003,” West LAPD Captain Rich Wemmer said in a
bulletin.
“It is designed to improve the quality of life,”
said Philip Gabriel, owner of Scrubs Unlimited.
“Any kind of negative impact (in Westwood) is under the
jurisdiction of LAPD; that is who the Business Watch would work
with,” said Jay Handal, president of the West Los Angeles
Chamber of Commerce.
The Business Watch will somewhat supplant the defunct Business
Improvement District, which was inconsistent in its efforts and
accused of corruption.
“It had too many structural problems,” said
councilman Jack Weiss.
The Business Watch comes at a time in which Westwood Village is
without a unifying entity that can assemble projects and accomplish
goals.
“It will work as a good communications device,” said
Jeff Abell, owner of Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers.
Abell added that “the BID was spread out too thin,”
addressing the multitude of issues which were encompassed by the
BID.
Addressing crime is the Business Watch’s focal purpose
““ its main problem being transients.
“Transients are the number two problem in Westwood,”
according to Handal, with parking being the primary problem.
“Our goal is to make the Westwood business and residential
neighborhoods safer for those who live, work and visit this
historical village,” Wemmer said.
“The Business Watch will help merchants deal primarily
with the transient issue to make Westwood more inviting,”
Abell said.
“It can identify where the transients are,” Handal
added.
This isn’t to say that Westwood is a crime-riddled area in
desperate need of ordinance.
“This is still one of the safest places in the entire city
(of Los Angeles). I’m not expecting any dramatic changes to take
place in Westwood, but I definitely think it will be a good
thing,” said Abell.
The LAPD will be helped tremendously by the Business Watch
because the onus is on the merchants to initiate contact with the
police due to the shortage of officers, said Handal.
“This will help us learn how to deal with (crime and
transients). It’s really our responsibility. We have to be the ones
that are the eyes of the police,” Abell said.