Beverly Hills Police Department Chief Mark Stainbrook, left, answered questions about public safety. (photo by Tabor Brewster)

More than 100 residents of Beverly Hills’ southeast neighborhood attended a community meeting held by the city on March 23 at La Cienega Park Community Center to voice concerns over quality of life issues including crime, development, parking, power outages and the upcoming D Line Metro station opening at the corner of Wilshire and La Cienega boulevards on May 8.

The town-hall style meeting provided an open forum where residents could bring up issues impacting their daily lives. The meeting was attended by the five members of the Beverly Hills City Council, city management, city staff and police and fire leaders.

Many residents expressed a desire for the city to increase police presence in the neighborhood ahead of the Metro opening.

City Manager Nancy Hunt-Coffey said the city has added a second patrol of eight officers and one detective to the area, in addition to an environmental maintenance worker and homeless resources. While the inside of the station will be manned by LAPD officers, the Beverly Hills Police Department is currently planning a public safety center outside the station, where seven community service officers will be located.

“It’s the only one on any Metro platform, or any Metro plaza,” BHPD Chief Mark Stainbrook said. “We are groundbreakers in this and we had to fight and convince Metro – ‘we need this place.’ That’s going to give us 24/7 visibility and have someone out there looking at who is coming off, what they’re doing and where they’re going. Additionally, it’s a place where an officer can go and write a report or take a break or be present in the area.”

The public safety center has not yet been built, and BHPD officers will be stationed in an adjacent building for several months until it is completed, Stainbrook said.

Some attendees expressed a common sentiment that the concerns of southeast neighborhood residents have been overlooked by city leaders.

“When you talk about the quality of life, for me, it just feels like the experience here has been one of being ignored,” resident and former Beverly Hills Unified School District board member Isabel Hacker said. “So my question is, for the policy makers, and perhaps management who I think take direction from the policy makers, whose job is it to follow through? Because today … feels too late.”

Resident Crystal Gholian raised concerns over a vacant property at 128 N. Carson Road, which she said has been frequented by trespassers and homeless individuals for several years.

“I end up calling the police quite a bit because of our homeless population that likes to flow over and particularly camp out at the house next door to me,” Gholian said. “Called them yesterday, the [BHPD] drone was up quickly, which I was really excited about, but they lost the guy that was in the backyard. So how is the drone really going to help us long-term when we have all this influx coming from the Metro? I feel like we need a lot more help.”

“My staff is taking notes on that house, we’ll check into that,” Stainbrook responded. He said the city’s arrests are up 22% thanks to recent improvements with the drone program.

Gholian later told the Beverly Press that while she was arriving home from the March 23 meeting, she noticed lights coming from the vacant property and called the police. She said  police took approximately 15 minutes to arrive, and arrested one person for trespassing. However, she said an additional person was able to hop the fence and escape, and a faster response may have resulted in that person’s arrest.

Gholian said she was “frustrated” that the problem has gone on for years with no permanent solution.

“Promises and actions are different,” she said.

Resident Gay Abrams said the city should hold more town hall-style forums like the one on March 23, where people can learn about issues in the community and engage directly with the city. She said it is hard for the public to stay informed when the city infrequently holds public forums.

“Rather than do this every four years, before an election, you should do this four, five times a year, and in different districts,” Abrams said. “So I appreciate you doing this, please do it more, please be comprehensive, please educate the public.”