Neighborhood Watch Meeting Notes

In Spanish, Rifa means "TVR rules!" 13 is the 13th letter, M, to show alliance with Mexican Mafia. The S-T faction arrived in 1979 and calls themselves the Dukes. TVOK, for "Tujunga’s Very Own Krew"

are their youngest.

It was an eye-opening presentation! But our usual audience camaraderie prevailed, and laughter often filled the room! Officer Massie distributed a very thorough handout on TVR, which we are seeking permission to publish.

Following Massie's presentation, Senior Lead Officers Gloria Caloca and Wil Godoy filled us in on S-T crime stats which are, overall, strongly DOWN! We also met Sgt Josué Mérida, Foothill's new head of Community Relations.

 

 

They're one of LA's earliest Latino gangs, dating from the 1920s. They reached S-T about 1979. Their identifying clothing and tats likely display the letter "T."

All members are under a permanent gang injunction, which forbids them carrying weapons and restricts some locations, dress, associates, and conduct.

S-T has about 120 members but only 10-12 are active. Ages usually range from 11-12 to low 30s when many see the futility of the lifestyle and go straight.

For gang members on probation—stricter than the gang-wide injunction—activities and reach are curtailed, and LAPD has rights of home search, stop and search, etc.

TVR's most frequent local crimes are firearm possession, drugs/alcohol, acting as lookout or obstructing traffic, loitering/trespassing, and vandalism. Graffiti is a trademark! No home invasions here but robbery is frequent. They almost never shoot anyone but other gangs!

 

They recruit our teens and subteens at Howard Finn Park!...
Directly behind S-T Library, LAFD Fire House #74, and Council District 2's Municipal Building on Foothill Bl.

 

 

Officer Massie (his email is below) ACTIVELY ENCOURAGES you to contact him any for TVR or gang activity you see. Include photos or videos, but NEVER expose yourself to danger!! Reporting graffiti on MyLA311 will get it painted over and rapidly, discourages the delinquents. BUT they do NOT notify LAPD! Email Massie a duplicate report.

Do NOT report any crime you read about on social media. SLOs past and present, CD7, and Officer Massie find constantly wrong. Urge the person who has firsthand knowledge to report it!

 

Reporting Anonymously!
Officer Massie works to keep reports anonymous. To keep you safe, when he's in court and speaking with crims and their attorneys, Massie presents your data as if he had gathered it. Although unlikely, a crooked lawyer MIGHT dig back through records to see your name. So set up an anonymous email address to send in your photos and descriptions.

WeTip— 909.987.5005 or https://www.wetip.com/ —anonymously distributes your tips to correct agencies and departments.

 

 

- Gang kids' parents are often cooperative; not always.

- Officer Massie is in frequent touch with schools, where school police are helpful in ID'ing and locating troublemakers.

- He made a recent graffiti arrest across from the park.

- LAPD now only has intermittent access to Parks & Recs' 5 or 6 cams in Sunland Park and Little Landers (Bolton Hall) Park.

- TVR respect LAPD's consequences. They avoid confrontations and violent crimes that bring higher jail time.

Massie said S-T has one or two dedicated patrol units 24/7, but emergencies can yank them away.

 

► Foothill Div. gets more guns off the street than any San Fernando Valley division.

There was a nuisance complaint near Orca, but LAPD cannot stop men on bicycles nor homeless people with shopping carts.

 

Thefts from motor vehicles are down.

Robberies are up, mostly the "Estes" type—where a store employee tries to stop shoplifting and a tussle ensues. The thief's resistance makes it a robbery, increasing punishment.

 

SLO Godoy worked long to marshal City resources to get the K-Mart mess thoroughly cleaned up. Next day, some dork dumped his sofas there! The following day, a transient arrived and strewed belongings around! She felt she deserved it.

"If you find time to type it into Facebook or Nextdoor, you can type it into MyLA311!"

Why don't apartment managers require people moving out to call MyLA311 for bulky pickup? Why don't managers do that? Very easy!

Home and business alarms, loudspeakers, and video cams help deter crims and send them elsewhere.

 

 

An assault occurred at a Trump merchandise vendor between an 18yo suspected vandal and a 71yo seller. Officers handcuffed the 18yo but did not arrest. An LAPD Supervisor was on scene to ensure everything went by the book. Nobody on-site would sign the private person arrest forms, as both parties might have been detained for "mutual combat."

If your LAPD interaction is unproductive, you may request a supervisor to ensure correct procedures are followed. We have been told this for literally ten years at Neighborhood Watch meetings.

Officer Caloca phoned MANY neighbors who had loudly complained about squatters in a nearby house, asking each one to testify at an eviction hearing. But ONLY ONE of them would walk the walk! Vagrants legally fought the eviction but—Thank You, Mystery Lady!—court proceedings tossed the rascals out!

At 1:55 minutes into the 13 January Police Commission meeting— https://youtu.be/d7mMUPF-pMs?si=EHJlM86ZbAtQkOaw —hear the update on our beleaguered 911 system! It's being revamped but their biggest need is for MORE operators! (I've had answer times range from 10-12 seconds up to 25 minutes!)

That talk covers issues of attrition, hiring, training, sorting calls, ancient equipment, call load, and the dire need for public education and public outreach staff.

 

Planned upgrades will include AI assists and real-time translation of 35 languages!

 

Officer Caloca will TRY TO get an experienced 911 operator to ZOOM into our next meeting.

 

REPORT EVERY CRIME. Reporting crimes shows LAPD and LA City our true crime levels. Failure to report helps criminals hide actual crimes and reduces police budget and officers on the street!

 

►► PLEASE SAVE THESE CONTACTS!!! ◄◄

► File LAPD Report Online: https://www.lapdonline.org/file-a-police-report/ 

► Tujunga's Senior Lead Officer: Gloria Caloca: [email protected]

► Sunland's SLO: Wil Godoy: [email protected]

► GANGS (TVR): Ofcr. Cody Massie: [email protected]

► SLO for HOMELESS Issues: Ofcr. Eric Herrera: [email protected]

► TRAFFIC: Ofcr. Sal Venegas: [email protected]

► Volunteering w/ Foothill LAPD: Ofcr. Milton Ramírez: [email protected]