Law enforcement officials shared the latest public safety reports from February to the City Council on Tuesday, with statistics showing a decrease in residential burglaries, an increase in wallet thefts and a traffic accident involving a pedestrian.
City staff also shared new information that can be used to help residents secure their homes from residential burglaries and other crimes.
Councilwoman Terry Walker addressed a new trend in home burglaries, the use of Wi-Fi blockers, which criminals have been using to disable security cameras connected to home internet. The practice was recently highlighted by the Los Angeles and Glendale police departments, along with warnings to hard wire security systems.
At the City Council meeting on Tuesday, both Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station Capt. Robert Hahnlein and Los Angeles County Fire Chief Pat Sprengel presented the public safety reports for fire and crime for the month of February.
Hahnlein reported 17 thefts, two burglaries and five residential burglaries.
“Out of the five residential burglaries, in two of them, the suspects got scared away by barking dogs, so they didn’t get anything,” said Hahnlein.
Hahnlein reported that residential burglaries decreased to five in February from eight in January. There was one reported incident of vandalism, two narcotics and six identity thefts in February across the city.
In addition, the department issued 83 traffic citations, 53 traffic warnings and 14 arrests last month. Also, there were six wallet thefts, with five of them occurring at the Town Center, specifically at Panera.
“I’m going to have my patrols do a little increased patrol around the Town Center and have the volunteers walk around the area a little bit more,” Hahnlein said, to combat the thefts.
Meanwhile, Sprengel reported 133 Fire Department responses with one reported vehicle fire that resulted in $5,000 worth of damage. There were two hazardous conditions, one power line down and a gas leak.
L.A. County Fire responded to 11 traffic accidents, with one involving a pedestrian in the 4500 block of Hampton Road.
Sprengel shared the safety tip of the month, which related to kitchen fires.
“Never leave the kitchen when frying, grilling or boiling food,” he said. “Wear short, close-fitted or tightly rolled up sleeves to prevent your clothes from catching fire.”
He concluded his report by reminding the community about the Los Angeles County Fire Department partnering with the city to provide Community Emergency Response Team training, or CERT training, for residents beginning March 27. It will run for eight consecutive Wednesday evenings from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at City Hall.
“The course is free and equips residents with essential skills and knowledge to respond effectively to emergencies and disasters within their communities,” said Sprengel.
Regarding last week’s windstorm, Walker asked Sprengel how the city fared “because I heard the sirens going a lot.”
Sprengel said the high winds affected the Altadena and LCF area, in particular.
“I will say that we did fairly well, [with] no injuries,” said Sprengel, noting that there were reports of trees down and property damage.
“I will say that the Fire Department, the Sheriff’s Department and the city worked collectively and collaboratively to really do a good job and work through those events,” said Sprengel. “It could have been a lot worse. We were able to open up roads fairly quickly and mitigate any of the issues that were there. So, I appreciate the work of the city.”
Director of Administrative Services Arabo Parseghian also gave a report for the city’s public safety initiatives.
With help from the Sheriff’s Department, the city is debuting an information guide to help direct residents on tips and tricks they can use to secure their homes from crimes. It includes tips for windows, security, outdoor maintenance and valuables.
“There are a lot of helpful tips and sort of checklists for residents to be cognizant as they do this,” said Parseghian. “This was one of the efforts we’re trying to make in improving and securing facilities.”
If successful, the city will also issue something similar to assist commercial properties and businesses.
Walker asked Parseghian about the rise of a new scam that criminals are using to disable home Wi-Fi signals and security cameras to get into the homes easier.
A Wi-Fi jamming or blocking device is silent to the human ear and emits a high signal to stop the Wi-Fi signal and security system, disconnecting it from the network and disabling alarm systems. A signal jammer can be a handheld portable device that prevents wireless communications within a 15-meter radius.
“A lot of people use more wireless cameras for their security systems because they’re easy to install, and we actually have recommendations in our diagrams on where you should hardwire it in, which is a lot more difficult to deactivate,” said Parseghian.
In early March, the Los Angeles Police Department and Glendale Police Department said they are encountering a rise in criminals using Wi-Fi jammers to enter homes. They shared a few tips for residents, like asking their internet provider or an electrician to hardwire their security cameras or alarm system and connect it to their router via cables, putting a padlock on electrical circuit boxes, putting trackers, like an Apple Air Tag, on valuables, and having backup batteries for security cameras to ensure continuous operation during power outages or disruptions.
The city suggests that residents invest in an alarm system that is hardwired to their internet router, preferably one with monitoring and glass-break sensors.
Parseghian also touched on the recent windstorm and how the city prepared as they received early alerts of the wind event.
“The city was prepared in conjunction with the Sheriff’s and fire, and I cannot commend both of the gentlemen out there and the crews out there helping the city,” said Parseghian. “They were phenomenal.”
He also spotlighted Facilities and Maintenance Superintendent Ken Roberts from the Public Works Department, who was visiting sites throughout the city to help in any way he could.
Additionally, Parseghian said that Public Safety Coordinator Jennifer Burghdorf will start visiting schools in the city to talk about emergency preparedness.
“Our goal is to make sure that every single school and every single critical facility [is communicating] with us as we do with them, and it becomes a collaborative effort when it comes to preparedness and just dealing with public safety,” said Parseghian.
Gunter commended city staff for sending out accurate information to the community and said he is impressed with the efforts.
To learn more about crime prevention, visit cityoflcf.org/home-burglary-prevention/. To sign up for the upcoming CERT training, visit cityoflcf.org and search CERT to find more details and to register.
First published in the March 21 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
