Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station Capt. Robert Hahnlein reported a decrease in residential burglaries and larceny thefts in December from November during the public safety report at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Hahnlein also discussed the response to organized retail crime activity across the state, introducing detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force. The CV Sheriff’s Station is working locally with the department in efforts to crack down on thefts at local businesses, he said.
Hahnlein said there were 14 residential burglaries, 30 thefts and three identity theft or fraud-related reports in La Cañada Flintridge in November.
One of the residential burglaries that took place in November was at a construction site where the resident had cameras, and two suspects were arrested.
“And we’re trying to see if they’re involved with any other construction-type thefts,” said Hahnlein.
During the month, there was one aggravated assault, “where someone got hit in the head with a frying pan,” he said.
There were also wallet and phone thefts reported from shopping carts, totaling six in November.
In December, meanwhile, residential burglaries fell to nine from 14 in November, said Hahnlein, adding that there were also 13 reported thefts and three identity theft or fraud-related reports.
The station provided 22 extra patrol cars in December, which they will continue to do in the month of January, “to make sure we’re doing a lot of visible patrol out there in the streets,” said Hahnlein.
For the year of 2023, there was a total of 489 Flock Safety camera hits compared to 374 in 2022.
Councilman Kim Bowman said that though residential burglaries have been a great focus in the city and achieving zero would be ideal, he highlighted data from the report showing that, progressively over the last five years, residential burglaries have gone down year-to-year.
He compared 97 residential burglaries in 2019, a pre-pandemic year, to the 66 reported in 2023.
“A 32% reduction between those two time periods says to me, that we’re doing the right things, and we need to continue to progress in that,” said Bowman.
Hahnlein thanked Bowman for the comment and said, “We couldn’t do it without the help of the city.”
In light of the recent retail thefts, including several at T.J. Maxx, Hahnlein introduced a few detectives from the Organized Retail Crime Task Force.
In response to a dramatic increase in organized retail crime activity occurring at local businesses in California, the Sheriff’s Department created the task force in 2023, operating out of the Major Crimes Bureau. The goal of the task force is to help create a safer community for all businesses, consumers and residents of Los Angeles County.
The detectives gave a short presentation to the Council, explaining that there are usually two types of organized retail theft crimes, “smash and grabs” and “flash mobs.”
The task force is partnering with station detectives and assisting them in organized retail crimes. The task team will also go on “blitz operations,” where detectives will work undercover at shopping centers like the Town Center to catch people in the act of committing crimes and take them into custody.
On Jan. 4, the task team conducted a blitz operation at Target, T.J. Maxx and Rite Aid in LCF, and recovered $2,000 worth of merchandise and made four arrests.
Since the start of the task force in 2023, they have conducted 79 operations, which have resulted in 186 warrants, 359 arrested individuals, and recovered more than $706,000 in stolen merchandise.
“I would just say thank you so much for the work and clearly the department is paying attention to what’s happening in the world, and listening to the needs of all residents, and came up with plans like this to address it,” said Mayor Rick Gunter. “We really appreciate that.”
The detectives provided the Council with resources and pamphlets about the task force, which included ways businesses can deter retail theft crimes, how community members can report retail theft and what a victim should do in response to a retail theft.
The pamphlet urged people to pay attention to details in retail theft, such as how many suspects were involved and what time the incident occurred.
Some steps that a business owner or employee can take is installing security cameras in and around the perimeter, hiring private security services, keeping high value merchandise less easily accessible, and being aware of individuals entering your business holding large empty bags, to name a few.
Meanwhile, L.A. County Fire Chief Pat Sprengel reported 145 fire responses in November for LCF, which included two fires. One was a structure fire on Vista Del Valle Road that resulted in $40,000 worth of damage.
In December, there were 137 total fire responses, which included one outdoor fire with no reported damage.
First published in the January 18 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
