Melrose Action Network hosts event to build relationships between residents and police
On the annual National Night Out Sui Yuen Wong brought her family to meet the police officers who patrol the Melrose area.
"We're actually going to be moving in the next few months just to a better neighborhood for the kids to grow up in," Wong said.
She also said she didn't want her kids to grow up in one of Los Angeles' most famous neighborhoods because of the recent rise in violent crime targeting up-scale shopping areas.
"We don't really feel safe walking down Melrose anymore," said Wong.
The Los Angeles Police Department said so far this year, citywide, crimes like robberies, burglaries car thefts and assaults are up 20%, 15%, 16% and 2%, respectively.
"We are committed as a police department to continue to make sure everybody is safe and feels safe," said Captain Sonia Monico.
Monico said the LAPD responded to the recent crime wave by putting mroe officers onto the streets.
"We have foot patrols. We have mounted patrols. We have bicycle patrols," she said.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell said the police are doing what they can to deter crime.
"The bad guysd have the idea that — oftentimes they're right — that they can just get away with doing bad things," he said. "We've got to change that calculation.
The Melrose Village Neighborhood Alliance which hosts weekly neighborhood walks with police said some of the crime seems to have shifted.
"As soon as it became too difficult to do smash-and-grabs and robberies in Melrose they started looking at Beverly Boulevard and Third Street," said MVNA spokesperson Shelby Blecker. "They started looking at Larchmont Village."
