County sheriff and fire officials brief La Cañada City Council on recent trends
In this 2014 file photo, firefighters spray water on the remnants of a maintenance shed after it was destroyed by fire in La Cañada Flintridge. County sheriff and fire officials presented a report of their recent activities to the council Tuesday.
Despite changing theft trends, due partly to an influx in suspicious activity around the holidays, La Cañada crimes in 2015 were on par with last year’s figures and down significantly from counts taken five years ago, safety officials reported Tuesday.
Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station Capt. Bill Song and Los Angeles County Fire Department Assist. Chief Greg Hisel delivered presentations Tuesday to the La Cañada Flintridge City Council on department activities specifically for the month of December as well as for 2015 overall.
Song reported the incidence of Part I crimes, which include thefts and robberies, assaults, larceny and arson, was 2% lower than in 2014, but down about 20% from rates reported in 2010. He credited that, and the drop in residential burglaries — from 21 in December 2014 to three last month — to an increase in patrols and community vigilance.
“We were up at the tail end of last year and the beginning of this year, but we tapered down. We battled, battled, battled back and in December, we only had three residential burglaries,” Song said, adding that the number of nonresidential burglaries decreased 33% from 2014.
Grand theft auto reports taken in La Cañada numbered five more than last year, but still reflected an 8% overall decrease from five years ago. Local incidents of larceny — up by just two from last year and particularly heavy during the holiday season — were attributed to thefts from vehicles, most of them unlocked.
“Twenty-seven of those incidents were from unlocked vehicles,” Song told the council of December’s activity, adding that losses in seven of the crimes met the $950 threshold required for grand theft categorization.
“You’ll see where the problem was in December is (not) keeping our car doors locked overnight,” he added.
For Part II crimes, Song reported a decrease in the number of narcotics arrests, from 40 last year to 13 in 2015, and put the number of identity theft and fraud cases last month at nine.
In his report of fire department activities, Hisel noted that county stations No. 19 and No. 82 received calls for 114 incidents in December, 71 of which were rescue, emergency or medical requests to accommodate illnesses, traffic accidents, injuries and alarm bell rings — about average for the month.
For 2015, Hisel estimated La Cañada claimed a combined $143,200 in property loss and about $15,800 in content loss due to structural fires as well as those occurring in cars or from other items.
El Niño event to stress preparation
Asst. Fire Chief Hisel also informed La Cañada City Council members Tuesday of a free disaster preparation event scheduled to take place Saturday at La Crescenta’s Two Strike Park, 5107 Rosemont Ave., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Los Angeles County public safety officials will pass out up to 10 prefilled sandbags per vehicle, and will offer free sand and bags for residents to fill up at the event. In addition, participants can learn more about how to protect their homes and property from rain damage as the El Niño weather pattern runs its course this winter.
“We’ll be happy to hand out bags, until we run out,” Hisel said Tuesday, indicating community members have taken full advantage of sand and bags offered so far.
He advised residents to empty and dispose of all sandbags at the end of the season, as the material becomes water-logged and corroded during rainy periods.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
