Encino city leaders hold meeting to address recent rash of crime plaguing area

Encino city leaders hosted a meeting on Thursday to address the rash of crime that has plagued the area in recent weeks with community members. 

Council member Nithya Raman hosted the Zoom meeting, along with Los Angeles Police Department officials and the Mayor's office on Thursday evening to open a line of communication with the public about the almost daily crime that has continued in Encino, Tarzana and Woodland Hills for the past month. 

"To learn more about the LAPD response to this issue and to provide information and tools to help our community stay safe and secure," Raman said about Thursday's meeting. 

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One of the many who logged on to see what they had to say was Michelangelo Falcon, who had his store high-end sneaker store Equvalence broken into for the third time since opening eight years ago. 

"When you have these type of meetings, it kind of comes down to what comes from it," he said. "I mean, how many of these meetings are you going to have and how much action is going to come from it?"

Falcon says that the recent crime, in which the thieves took cash and product, including some shoes that were listed as high as $15,000, has him beyond frustrated. 

"You work so hard to be in that high statue are and come to find out you are just putting a target on your back," he said. 

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Though LAPD reports that crime is down across the area over the last year, Encino has been hit hard in the last month, wth more than a dozen reported burglaries in that time. 

In one of those incidents, police say that burglars wearing face masks broke into a home on Ballina Drive, where they took whatever they could. 

Just days prior, a mother and daughter were walking down the street when a group of thieves broke into their home on Rubio Avenue, making off with thousands of dollars worth of belongings. 

Less than a mile away, thieves ransacked another home was hit twice in less than a week, gaining access through a smashed glass door. 

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In some of these cases, detectives say that the criminals are using advanced technology like wifi blockers to gain access and render home security systems useless while the break in. 

LAPD says that they've increased patrols both on the ground on horseback and in the air, but they're still asking people to stay on their toes. 

More community meetings have been planned for the future, city leaders said.