Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer on Monday introduced 16 new neighborhood prosecutors who will work directly with residents and police throughout the city to improve quality of life.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announces that the new neighborhood prosecutors will be assigned to police stations. Mehrnoosh “Nooshi” Zahiri, top right, will serve LAPD’s Wilshire Division. (photo by Edwin Folven)

Residents who have a graffiti problem in their neighborhood or live near a property that is overgrown with weeds or strewn with trash will be able to contact their neighborhood prosecutor for assistance. Business owners will also have someone to turn to if a suspect continuously trespasses or loiters, or damages property.

“Neighborhood prosecutors are community problem solvers and make a real difference in people’s daily lives,” Feuer said. “When I ran for this job, I said that I would double the number of neighborhood prosecutors. We have done that. I am also proud to announce that I will be hiring an additional five neighborhood prosecutors in the next few months, bringing the number to twenty-one.”

The neighborhood prosecutor program was created under former City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, but was disbanded by former City Attorney Carmen Trutanich in 2010.

The prosecutors will be assigned to each of the LAPD’s police stations. The neighborhood prosecutor for the LAPD’s Wilshire Division will be Mehrnoosh “Nooshi” Zahiri. Prosecutor Jackie Lawson will be assigned to the Hollywood Division, and Verónica de la Cruz-Robles will be assigned to the Olympic Division. Each of the new prosecutors will be introduced at community events to be scheduled in the coming weeks.

The neighborhood prosecutors recently received their assignments, and are currently in the process of meeting with personnel at the police stations, and getting up to speed with problems in the communities. General quality of life issues to be addressed are graffiti, blight and illegal dumping, but the prosecutors will also be involved in solving problems with gangs, gun violence and other threats to public safety. The goal is to have the neighborhood prosecutors at the stations by June 16.

“They will be standing shoulder to shoulder with communities throughout our city,” Feuer added. “They will be in every neighborhood in the city.”

Lawson, who is a Southwestern School of Law graduate, was with the city attorney’s office’s Workers’ Compensation Division before transferring to the Criminal Division in 2007. Lawson is credited with defending the city against hundreds of claims.

De la Cruz-Robles is a Stanford graduate and earned a law degree from UCLA. She formerly worked as an attorney for Neighborhood Legal Services, and has been with the city attorney’s office since 2001, working in nuisance abatement, narcotics law enforcement, school safety and housing code enforcement.

Zahiri said she is excited about the opportunity to work in the Wilshire area, which she said is a highly diverse community. She attended UCLA and the Southwestern School of Law, and previously worked for the firm Dapeer, Rosenblit and Litvak LLP, which contracts with cities in Los Angeles County provide prosecutorial services.

Zahiri said she has previously handled legal matters related to building code enforcement, blight and graffiti, and is eager to learn about the concerns in the Wilshire area. Once the neighborhood prosecutors settle in at the police stations, members of the public will be able to reach them directly or contact them through the city attorney’s office.

“I will [go] to meetings to hear what the issues are, and will see what our role will be in that. Every neighborhood is different,” Zahiri said. “Everybody is welcome to contact me. The goal is that I will primarily be at [Wilshire Division] for six months.”

Special assistant city attorney Capri Maddox, who formerly served as the neighborhood prosecutor for the Wilshire Division from 2005 through 2010, said the prosecutors are another tool to help solve problems, and serve as liaisons between law enforcement and the community. While police make arrests and investigate crimes, the neighborhood prosecutors can work to find long-term solutions to issues that may not be police matters but are important to residents or business owners. Maddox said she worked on everything from domestic violence and gang issues to gun violence and school safety while at the Wilshire Division.

“It’s a great partnership,” Maddox said. “[With the Wilshire area], you have such a diverse and engaged part of the city. From Windsor Square to Little Ethiopia, and from Koreatown to the Mid-City, it’s very dynamic. Wilshire is still my station. I live in Wilshire. [The neighborhood prosecutors] are going to be the best of the best.”

Until the neighborhood prosecutor program is completely up and running, information can be obtained by calling (213)978-4090, or visiting www.atty.lacity.org.