“Zero,” Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Captain Chris Blasnek said. “Zero, zero.”
He was, at Council Jonathan Curtis’ request, repeating the March tally of residential burglaries in La Cañada Flintridge.
City Council members wished to highlight the drop following an uptick late last year and early this year. In January, 14 residential burglaries were recorded in the city, followed by four in February. So far, two residential burglaries have been reported in April.
“It was a lot of hard work,” Blasnek said. “You saw the extra units, we had our burglary-robbery suppression team, and I think it worked. And it wasn’t just us; it was all the neighboring cities, as far as Agoura Hills.”
Blasnek said that suspects arrested allegedly burglarizing a house in that city two weeks ago included a man who had committed a burglary in LCF as a juvenile.
“We know who they are,” Blasnek said, “and we’re watching them and we’ll keep an eye on them, but it’s going to take all the communities, not just us.”
Mayor Terry Walker pointed out that crime, overall, has dropped since January. There were 39 Part 1 offenses (including other types of burglaries, grand theft auto and larceny-theft) in January, followed by 21 in February and 15 in March.
HIGH SPEEDS ON
ANGELES CREST HIGHWAY
With home burglaries under control, Blasnek said he planned to focus additional attention on drivers speeding along Angeles Crest Highway.
He said after he spoke last week with a resident who presented his concerns about speeding on the highway, he planned to visit the area himself and has dedicated a deputy to the section of road between Foothill Boulevard and Monte Cristo Campground.
“I’m going to give one of the people from the station ownership of the issue,” Blasnek said by phone. “So they’ll go out and work it and show me the results at the end of the month. Because it’s a proven fact — where there’s traffic enforcement, the traffic collision rate is lowered.”
He said he also asked California Highway Patrol personnel to more closely monitor the area and that they agreed. Moreover, Blasnek said a warning light on the highway was fixed Monday, that the department plans to use a speed trailer to make drivers aware of their speeds and that he’ll explore the possibility of adding signage to the route.
“Every once in a while, it’s good to go out and take a look and make sure everybody is aware,” he said. “We’ve got to stay on it.”
