Attendees:
Courtne Kelley, Melanie McShane, Thomas Weissbarth, Victor Garza, Norma Wenkalman, Jon Wenkalman, Janet Lipkin, Edward Lipkin, Charlene Flores, Betty Ley, Charles Conrad, Eric Ingebrigsten, Wilbert Berg, Margret Shoemaker, Terrance Hendricks, Lamar Shelby and Al Piantanida
Absent:
Fabian Garcia, David Riniker, Fred Whitebook, Bruce R. Ullman, Eric Aquirre, Jessie Rembac, Kim Welden, Tony Wilkinson, Mariana Linares, Allison Willits, Evelyn Martinez, Robert Rouge.
Guests:
Mack Hunter, Bill Bailey, Bernard J. Walker, Manny Figueras, Vicky Burch
Meeting called to order:
1835 (6:35pm)
Welcome:
Melanie McShane
Pledge of Alliance:
Tom Weissbarth
Self introductions:
Melanie McShane: Melanie also asked SLO Chacon to introduce his guests of twenty three students from the Sylmar ITT College.
Melanie then asked Manny from CD7 for his announcements: Manny gave a brief announcement regarding an Open House – Meet and Greet to welcome Wendy Greuel as LA City Controller on July 1st from 1:00pm to 3:00pm at the Office of the City Controller, 200 N. Main St. #200, LA. He had flyers regarding Fireworks “Play it Safe” and a flyer regarding the CRA/LA East Valley Region Homeownership Opportunity Program.
The flyers are attached to the original minutes.
SGT Adrian Torres announced that most of the SLO’s had been deployed to the Lakers’ Victory Parade.
Secretary Report:
Minutes of May 20, 2009 were distributed for review. Tom Weissbarth motioned to accept the minutes and 2nd by Courtne Kelley. Minutes approved.
Presentation by Vicky Burch on CRT, “Crisis Response Team”
Vicky Burch: Co-Chair for Foothill: There are 21 stations and each station has their own CRT team except for Mission Area and Foothill who share the same team. Victims from crisis need a lot of TLC and CRT teams are available through the LAPD and LAFD to provide needed support and are deployed 24-7. Most CRT members are partnered up and are deployed as a team. A lot of us have all had some sort of trauma within our life time and understand the need for support. Vicky has been a member now for 9 years. Classes are held once a year. One year in LA and the next year in the SF Valley. The class is an 8 week course. Jeff Zimmerman is the Manager and can be reached at 213-978-0697. If interested give him a call to get your name on the list. The next class for 2010 is tentatively scheduled for February and most likely will be held right here at Mission Area in the Community Room. CRT members are requested to commit to at least one (1) year. Vicky handed out CRT phone cards to the Officers in attendance to the CPAB meeting. Melanie McShane asked Vicky to give the group some examples of what members do. Vicky explained that when she herself arrives at a location she looks for the person who seems to be the strongest.
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Vicky explained that once a CRT member arrives they are briefed by the Officers/Detectives on the scene as to the current situation. Each CRT member has a name badge which identifies them. For some reason Sylmar seems to have the most suicides. Once she went out to a scene where a 26 day old baby had died. The mother wasn’t willing to turn the baby over to the Coroner so she spoke with the mother and finally the mother was willing to turn the baby over to Vicky who in turn, turned the baby over to the Coroner. The CRT teams were also deployed out to the train crashes in Glendale and in Chatsworth and to a bank robbery in Sylmar. Vicky announced that volunteers are needed, especially during the day as most people are only available after work and to please give Jeff Zimmerman a call. The presentation was followed by a short Q and A. Hand-outs were available on the front table and a copy of that material is attached to the original minutes.
Courtne Kelley announced that more people are needed to take the CERT “Community Emergency Response Team” training and if they can get 25 people or more they could have a training right here at Mission Area.
Manny Figueras then announced that a CERT training will be taking place at Bishop Alemany on July 13, 2009, there on Rinaldi in Mission Hills at 6:30pm. It’s a 7 week course and once completed you will receive a back-pack with supplies and a CERT vest and hard-hat. Supplies you’ll need to have are rubber gloves etc. Plus, once a month there is CERT update training classes available.
It was also announced that Farmers Insurance sponsors CERT training classes as well.
Emergency Preparedness Discussion regarding “Your Best Tips”
Melanie McShane asked for everyone to share their best emergency preparedness tips and would get the list from the Secretary and have a list Xeroxed and handed out at our next CPAB meeting. The list is attached to these minutes.
Old Business:
Committee Reports:
Events Committee: Melanie McShane
The committee wasn’t able to meet, though Officer Appreciation Day will be Thursday, September 24, 2009 and we need as many volunteers as possible even if you’re only able to give a couple of hours.
Public Nuisance Committee: Tom Weissbarth
The Public Nuisance Committee met 6-4-09 with 13 civilians, Captain Scott and SLO Lonergan
Discussion of Loud Party Status: Captain Scott related that Mission has fielded 1-2 cars as “Party Cars” on weekends over the past 2 years. Funding for the last year was provided by Councilmember Alarcon.
Last week this was increased to 4 cars. This should provide better response time and dedicated units that will not be diverted to other calls. Last weekend there were 4 calls on Friday and 16 on Saturday. This is a very low number compared to history. They issued 4-5 citations. Captain Scott is starting to track the calls. There are issues with the way the calls are recorded that make it hard to tell how many CALLS are made regarding parties. If a call is associated with a previous incident there is no record of the call. There are a number of factors that determine whether a call is associated with an incident from a previous call or a new incident is created. One of the committee members stated that he placed several calls and apparently the units did respond to one party however the party continued.
Flyer Update: The flyers for both loud parties and fireworks were distributed and we discussed how they can be distributed. Ideas included: SLO’s, Schools, Explorers passing them out, Churches, Bodyworks, Neighborhood Council meetings, HOA billings.
Next Nuisance: After a review of the ideas we generated at our initial meeting the committee decided to spend some time on graffiti tagging. The Captain reported that a recent Probation Search targeting 25 locations resulted in 12 contacts with the probationers and 7 violations.
Out next meeting will start with a overview of graffiti issues by Tom Weissbarth.
Next meeting will be June 30, 2009 at 6:30pm at the station.
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Cournte Kelley announced that the Loud Party flyers are now available in Spanish as well. Melanie McShane asked for both flyers to be sent to her via e-mail and she would upload them onto the Mission CPAB website.
Outreach Committee:
The committee explained that they will be giving a short presentation at the July CPAB meeting regarding the changes in the communication and educational material and each CPAB member will be receiving a packet of such material. Next meeting will be Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 7:00p.m, at the station.
CPAB Summit Report:
Betty Ley gave a brief explanation of this years CPAB Summit with the theme being CSI and that it was an amazing event. All in attendance was broken up into 4 groups and each group was taken to different areas.
Each group was escorted to each area. One area was a fictional crime scene, one area was forensic props, and one area was the different LAPD response vehicles. Explanation was given at each area. Guest speaker was Senator Alex Padilla.
Comments were made at the CPAB meeting regarding whether the Budget was discussed at the Summit which Captain Hayakawa gave a brief explanation on how the budget cuts will affect the department. There will be 500 citizen employees that will have to be replaced. These positions will need to be replaced by Officers which will need to be pulled from here and there to full fill those positions. There will be a freeze on promotions. The City Council voted that the only hiring will be to replace those who will be retiring in order to keep as many of the close to 10,000 officers that we now have. In the past when vehicles were needed to be replaced, they were. We now have to keep what we have, including weapons as well. More information will be available as it is received.
Melanie McShane stated that so many have been told that the LAPD would not be affected by the budget crisis, when in deed it will be a huge impact on the LAPD. A small Q and A followed.
Melanie McShane concluded with comments regarding the benefits of being a CPAB member.
Mission Area updates and crime stats: Captain Hayakawa
Captain Hayakawa explained that Captain Scott was in Boston on training.
Overall crime is down by 8%. Though violent crime is up a tad, we need to keep in mind that with our new boundaries we now have additional gangs within those boundaries. Also with summer months ahead and schools are about to recess for the summer we are focusing on trying to keep property crimes and BTFV down. Valuables are still visual in vehicles. Make sure you remove all valuable property from your vehicles. Keep all doors and windows locks at home and vehicles. Don’t become a crime victim.
Most of you know about the Laker’s Victory Celebration. It got a bit out of hand with people celebrating on Laurel Canyon Blvd. from Paxton up to Roxford, with most right here at Brand Blvd. We had to shut down that portion of Laurel Canyon as people were parking their cars and walking out into traffic. Plus a lot of shots fired were being heard.
Regarding the Laker’s Victory Parade, we were asked to deploy 40 to 50 of our officers and then were asked to deploy more, so most of our SLO’s are at the parade this evening. Most have been there since 4:00a.m. this morning. Overall it has been a good event with only a few arrests. One of our officers was injured and is at the hospital. They will be ok and probably be released tomorrow. I have been staying in touch with contacts and family members. Courtne Kelley asked that well wishes be sent to the officer from CPAB.
Captain Hayakawa explained that they’re going to request for party car funds from CD7 so that they can double up on “party cars” regarding an increase due to graduation parties and summer gang parties. As their fiscal budget ends this week and they won’t have a budget until the new fiscal year starting July 1st. The Area report followed by a small Q and A. Captain Hayakawa then explained the challenge trying to find members of the San Fer gang. The injunction has been a big help, though apparently most of the gang activity has been
handled indoors or behind locations as they haven’t seen any members hanging out in public. If you see any of them please call Mission Area as we would like very much to have a talk with them.
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If you see people in and around houses that you know are vacant also call that in as well. Possibly you’ll see lights on inside or hear noises, if so call it in to the non-emergency number. If you see someone actually breaking in then call 911. Gang members, the homeless etc are known to use these places for parties, to deal drugs etc.
We have also started discussions regarding our illegal fireworks campaign and have addresses from last year we will be focusing on again this year. Our SLO’s will be teaming up with LAFD and handing out flyers and citing people. It’s important to be cautious regarding fires and remember the Sayre Fire. If you see people shooting up in the air call 911 immediately as no one knows where that bullet will land. Try to give an address and a description of the person and of the vehicle if there is one.
New Business:
Melanie McShane regarding “National Night Out”:
A short explanation was given regarding National Night Out and Melanie requested a list from Officer Stocks so that the information could be uploaded onto the Mission CPAB website. SLO Chacon explained that they will be having a basketball game and BBQ hotdogs. Melanie explained that some areas might be doing a clean up event and others may have an event to promote Neighborhood Watch groups.
Captain Hayakawa regarding “Operation Adopt-A-Block”:
The kick off will be held July 16, 2009 at Mission Area’s Community Room from 8:00a.m. to 3:00pm. We would like at least 10 members from each Basic Car area to attend. This is a great event on “Keeping your eyes on your Neighborhood”. More information to follow. Melanie McShane will publish more information as it is received, onto the Mission CPAB website.
Membership Report:
Courtne Kelley: Please make sure you have signed in on the sign-in sheet and include your e-mail address if you want to receive CPAB information. Currently we have 18 members who have turned in their paper work, have had their finger prints taken etc. We also need more businesses involved. Right now we only have “Penny Lane”. We need more members and more member involvement. Officer Stocks made comment that several have not returned their paper work yet. It’s basically a 5 page form and you can turn it in any time Monday through Thursday from 7:00a.m.to 4:00p.m. One of the responsibilities of CPAB members is to get finger prints done and photo taken.
Melanie McShane explained that a CPAB responsibility hand-out is available on the front table.
Announcements:
Tom Weissbarth: No additional announcements.
Adjournment:
2037 (8:37pm
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Emergency Preparedness Tips From CPAB Members and Guests.
1. Emergency packs in each of your vehicles. Packs that come with supplies for 4 people or for 2 with a 3 day supply with an expiration date of 5 years. Prices for 2 people around $40, for 4 around $89.
2. Have at least an extra 3 day supply of your medication.
3. Be trained by the LAFD for CERT – “Community Emergency Response Team”.
4. Maza crackers can last a long time. Keep a package in your vehicle as well as at home.
5. Keep a warm jacket and a light weight jacket in your vehicle trunk, a hard hat is also a good idea.
6. Keep a “First Aid” kit in your vehicle with bottled water.
7. Make sure all of your important documents are together for easy removal access.
8. Keep a flash light, extra change of clothes and toilet paper in your vehicle.
9. Keep extra flash light batteries in your vehicle and at home.
10. Have a list of your contacts printed out where all family members know where to find it.
11. Have a fire extinguisher and remember to gently turn extinguisher at least once a month to keep
it’s contents loose. DO NOT test them or they won’t be any good.
12. Keep non-perishable items, blankets and enough water for 5 to 7 days.
13. A good rule is to buy more bottled water once your supply is down to 2 cases.
14. A great food to keep on hand is canned “Spam”, it lasts a very long time.
15. Keep slippers by the bed or a pair of tennis shoes under the bed. Disasters come at any time.
16. You can use the water in your “hot-water tank” it holds 40 gallons, can be used to flush toilets too.
17. Keep a battery operated radio with batteries on hand as well as a landline phone with a phone jack. When the electric is out your wireless phones won’t work.
18. Keep a wrench attached on or near your natural “gas” meter and always check for leaks after a disaster.
19. Keep “CASH” on hand. ATM machines will not work without electricity.
20. Have a “fire-proof” box for family photos and important documents.
21. Have a “family plan”. Where to meet up if you’re away from home and practice plan with your kids.
22. Child proof your cabinets and remember extra child/baby supplies: Diapers, formula etc.
23. Don’t forget the family pets. Have extra pet food, medication, leash and water for them.
24. Our Complex has 300 gallons of water stored for all residents.
25. A bed-side port-a-potty is also a great idea to store as is kitty litter to help with the odor.
26. A portable generator is a big help as is candles and matches for a last resort.
27. Discuss family plan options. Know your neighbors and a pre-paid phone card is also a good idea.
28. Check off action plan items with family so you know everything has been covered and understood.
29. Have a can opener on hand and or a P-38 (a small can opener that can be kept on your key chain).
30. Always keep your vehicle half full of fuel as well as a list of out-of-state contacts. You will more than likely be able to call another state before you can call your neighbor.
31. Check out S.O.S. Survival Products: 1-800-479-7998. They will also replace unused products that expire within kits.
32. Keep charcoal on hand and first use freezer items as they will be the first perishable items to go bad.
33. Rotate food supplies from your emergency preparedness boxes at least every 6 months.
34. Keep a whistle on hand to gain attention or if you get separated.
35. Large heavy trash bags work well to line toilets in case the toilets can not be flushed. Tie up top and discard.
36. Keep on hand all sizes of extra batteries not only for flash lights but for those hand held games for the kids.
37. Print out your cell phone list. Once cell phones are non-operable for a period of time you will loose all of your contact information.
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