Recent high-profile crimes in and around the Melrose Avenue shopping district have prompted a neighborhood watch group to seek more people for its block contacts program and for residents to enlist a private security patrol.

Police cordoned off the area around Melrose and Sierra Bonita avenues after a victim was killed in late August. The murder was one of the recent incidents causing concern in the Melrose Avenue shopping district. (photo by Peter Nichols)

Peter Nichols, co-founder of the Melrose Action Neighborhood Watch, said people in the community are concerned about an increase in crime, including a sexual assault and two homicides that occurred over the past four months. Having more block contacts throughout the neighborhood from Beverly Boulevard to the West Hollywood border, and La Cienega Boulevard to La Brea Avenue, will help residents become more organized in the fight against crime, Nichols said. Block contacts disseminate information, and act as liaisons between residents and the neighborhood watch and the police department.

The Melrose Action Neighborhood Watch is also encouraging residents to sign up for a private security patrol that will monitor individual properties. If enough people express interest, Nichols said a dedicated security patrol will be assigned to the overall community.

“We are trying to get as many people to sign up as possible,” Nichols said. “There is definitely a sense of fear with the major incidents we have had. We respect and appreciate our LAPD partners, but this is how we can do our part.”

The Melrose Action Neighborhood Watch has selected Security Specialists, a San Fernando-based private armed security company, as a potential provider for its Melrose Action Patrol Program. Nichols said residents will pay $49.95 per month for the security service, which includes an armed patrol that monitors residents’ homes. Nichols stressed that the private patrol would provide additional security and monitoring in the neighborhood, and would work with police. People should call 911 in case of emergency, but the patrol could be beneficial in non-emergency situations, Nichols said.

“This is not a replacement or overlay for the LAPD. This is another layer, or option, on a private level,” Nichols added. “It gives people more peace of mind to have someone to call for non-emergency situations.”

Nichols said having an armed patrol provides an extra level of safety in case security guards encounter an emergency such as an armed suspect. He added that armed guards undergo extra training and are better equipped to handle any situation that may arise.

Security Specialists is a state-licensed and insured company that will accept all liability, absolving residents and the Melrose Action Neighborhood Watch of personal liability, Nichols said.

“We don’t want to become an agent of the company,” he added. “They are independently licensed and insured and regulated, and we are not legally bound to them at all.”

The Melrose Action Neighborhood Watch has started holding community events and meetings to inform residents about the block contact program and patrol. Approximately 65 people committed to signing up for the private patrol at a meeting last weekend, Nichols said. Approximately 4,000 people live in the area covered by the Melrose Action Neighborhood Watch, and approximately 2,400 people have signed up to receive information and crime reports through the neighborhood watch’s website. Nichols declined to say how many people in total have already signed up for the security patrol and how many people are still needed for the organization to establish a 24-hour patrol for the neighborhood. The program is in its early stages, he said.

Capt. Anthony Oddo, with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Division, said a security patrol could be beneficial for the neighborhood, depending on how the program is implemented. Private security companies provide patrol services throughout the city, and work in partnership with the police department, he said.

“We’ve never had any issues with security companies. People put up gates around communities and people hire security guards. It’s another option,” Oddo said. “The potential is there to have more eyes and ears out there to notify the police department when crime is occurring. Any assistance I can get, I welcome. I have no issues about anything the community does to reduce crime and prevent them from becoming victims.”

Oddo said his only concern is that the role of the security patrol be clearly defined, and that people are aware that they should still call police to report emergencies and crimes. He said robberies and burglaries from vehicles have increased recently in the Melrose area, and statistics show overall crime in the Melrose area has increased 33.1 percent in 2017 compared to last year.

While Oddo said police are working to lower those numbers, he also sought to allay concerns about the recent high-profile homicides and other crimes in the Melrose community. Although some of the crimes made headlines, they are considered anomalies.

One of the homicides involved a transient who killed a homeless man on Fairfax Avenue after a dispute, and the suspect was arrested shortly afterward. Police are still investigating a homicide believed to be gang-related near Melrose and Sierra Bonita avenues. Detectives believe the shooting happened when two gang members coincidentally came across each other in the same area.

Oddo added that police continue to investigate a sexual assault in an apartment on Ogden Drive. The investigations into the gang-related homicide and the sexual assault are progressing, and Oddo said he hopes arrests will be made soon in both cases.

Nichols is directing residents to the Melrose Action Neighborhood Watch’s website for information on the block contact and private patrol program.

“It’s something neighbors are opting into,” Nichols added.