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Residents tell Cerritos council robberies and street takeovers persist; staff says ALPR camera rollout advancing
Summary
Business owners and residents urged the council to press for more enforcement after multiple robberies at Studebaker and Artesia. City staff said phase 2 of automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras is complete and phase 3 will be initiated in coming months.
Business owners and residents raised public-safety concerns at the July 10 meeting, describing repeated robberies, late-night parking and trash that they say create unsafe conditions; city staff and the sheriff’s captain described steps already underway to address the complaints.
Richard Vandenberg, owner of Off Street Cafe on Artesia Boulevard, told the council his business has been robbed four times in about three-and-a-half years, described repeated break-ins and said he has invested roughly $60,000 in security with recurring repair costs of about $34,000 per incident. "I'm concerned that public safety isn't taken seriously," Vandenberg said, urging the city and the county sheriff to place more deputies on patrol.
Mayor and staff asked Captain Drew Strong of the sheriff’s station to relay concerns to Sheriff Robert Luna; Captain Strong said deputies have reached out to the business and are working with the owner to improve deterrence. City Manager Robert Lopez said the city completed phase 2 of automatic license plate reader camera installations and will begin phase 3 now that the new fiscal-year budget has been adopted. "Phase 3 will be coming within the coming months," Lopez said, and staff said they will keep residents informed about LPR installation status.
Other residents praised neighborhood watch efforts and presented data suggesting a recent drop in home burglaries; Mel Cortez provided a chart and thanked the sheriff’s station and neighborhood watch volunteers for work that, he said, corresponds to a roughly 25% year-to-date reduction in home break-ins compared with last year.
Council and staff described additional traffic-safety and code-enforcement responses: a traffic-engineer study and short-term improvements (striping, signage and reflectors) are planned for a corridor where residents reported speeding, and code enforcement and city staff committed to following up on resident claims about problem properties.
Next steps: city staff will continue LPR rollouts in phase 3, code enforcement will reach out to residents reporting property maintenance problems, and the sheriff’s station said it will coordinate with affected businesses to improve deterrence and response times.
