By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
Officials from local agencies spoke at a two-hour community safety town hall on Thursday, April 6, touching on a range of topics from crime to fire safety and park ranger support at area parks and open spaces.
The meeting was co-hosted by Pacific Palisades Community Council and American Legion Ronald Reagan – Palisades Post 283—which is where it took place—and moderated by PPCC Chair Maryam Zar.
“The recent spate of crime in Pacific Palisades has led to concern across neighborhoods about how to keep safe and prevent crime,” according to a flyer about the event. “At the same time, it is critical to address the threat of fire and methods of prevention as well as plans for evacuation. We’ve brought together a panel to discuss community concerns and create a plan of action.”
Among the panelists were LAPD Senior Lead Officer for Pacific Palisades Brian Espin and for Brentwood Matt Kirk; Claudia Martin, neighborhood prosecutor with the Office of LA City Attorney; Captain Bryan Nassour, LAFD brush clearance; and Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness Co-President Sharon Kilbride.
At the start of the meeting—following a welcome from American Legion Ronald Reagan – Palisades Post 283 Commander Jim Cragg—each panelist was given two minutes to introduce themselves and share about the work their entity does in the Palisades.
“You probably all remember—people that go back that far—that our hillsides were loaded with about 120 encampments that were active,” Kilbride said of the time PPTFH was founded in 2014. “I can tell you now that pretty much the Palisades is very much camp-free because of the work of the task force and LAPD and the citizens who report things to us to help with the safety of the community.”
Kilbride shared that in 2022, PPTFH engaged 617 new incoming individuals experiencing homelessness in the Palisades. Since its inception, the task force has permanently housed 109 individuals and has helped get 168 individuals into some form of housing.
In regard to fire safety in the Palisades, Nassour gave a presentation on the Los Angeles Fire Department brush clearance program, including deadlines and what is expected of the 150,000-plus parcels within its jurisdiction.
“You need to perform a self inspection,” Nassour shared, detailing a mailer that was sent to homes in the area that is covered by the program. “Then, come May 1, we’re going to be coming out to your property, like it or not, and we need to verify that you did that self inspection and that you perform the brush clearance and adhere to the fire code—not only for the safety of yourself, but also for the safety of the citizens and your neighbors.”
Nassour explained the fees associated with failing brush clearance, which includes $31 for the first notice and then $674 for the second notice. Those who do not rectify brush clearance after two notices will be fined nearly $1,400, plus the cost for an LAFD-hired contractor to clear the parcel.
When it comes to LAPD response time, Zar posed a question to West LA Captain Craig Heredia about keeping a police car in the Palisades at all times.
“In a perfect world, I would love to say yes that would happen,” Heredia said. “But the reality is, we have a limited number of people.”
While the Palisades does have one car assigned “24 hours a day at a bare minimum,” Heredia explained, sometimes the unit gets called to another part of the division to handle a call for service.
“Our job is to respond to calls in a timely manner,” Heredia said. “I say people don’t care if we show up in a car, on a motorcycle, on a bicycle or even a horse. When they call the police, they want us to be responsive, they want us to show up quickly.”
Across the city, LAPD has a goal of a seven-minute response time for code three (lights and sirens), Heredia reported, and West LA is currently at 7.2 minutes. The average for all of the West Bureau, as well as the city, is 6.4 minutes.
The response time for code two calls, which are emergencies but without lights and sirens, is 22.6 minutes for West LA, while the city average is 23.6. The city averages 53.6 minutes for non-coded calls, while West LA averaged 48.5 minutes.
The meeting concluded with questions posed by members of the audience to various officials.
For those who are interested in viewing the complete meeting, a video is available at pacpalicc.org.
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