Re “Juvenile charged with murder of janitor at Park La Brea,” June 24 issue

On June 16, a Park La Brea complex janitor was stabbed to death. The front doors in all the Towers are open 24/7. The basement door is also open 24/7. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can enter Park La Brea with no questions asked.

There are no pedestrian gates at the main entrance on Third and Burnside. Anyone can walk in, no questions asked.

There is a guard gate for vehicles – a right lane and left lane. The right lane is for residents that have a sticker posted on their windshield. They are allowed to pass through. The barrier arm gate at the right is always up, which makes it very easy for any vehicle, with or without a sticker, to pass. And they do. The majority of the security watching from the booth do not even look.

The left lane is for visitors. They are supposedly stopped and asked where they are going, and are issued a pass by the guard. However, this doesn’t happen about 70% of the time. During nighttime hours, the left barrier arm gate is left up, allowing any vehicle entrance to Park La Brea. The gates located at Sixth and Curson are equally easy for anyone to pass through, especially those on foot. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can enter Park La Brea on foot.

And, what’s even more shocking is, there are no cameras anywhere in the complex. During Christmas, tenants, UPS and Amazon are warned not to leave packages by the mailboxes, as someone will steal them, and they do. There is no security at Park La Brea. If there were, Jose Tomas Mejia might be alive today.

Candace Thomas

Park La Brea