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Resident urges city to address rise in midweek smash-and-grab burglaries
Summary
At Temple City's council meeting a resident reported a pattern of midweek smash-and-grab burglaries near the high school and asked the council to pursue tactical or budgetary measures; council members pointed to ongoing monthly sheriff briefings and neighborhood-watch meetings and asked staff to follow up.
Jeff Gordon, a resident who submitted a speaker request, told the City Council that his neighborhood near Temple City High School has seen an increase in midweek smash-and-grab burglaries.
“We've seen an increase in burglary crime happening ... they usually smash and grab ... they're coming from other cities,” Jeff Gordon said, urging the council to consider measures—budgetary or tactical—to reduce the incidents.
Mayor Chavez and several council members responded that the city meets with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's representatives monthly to review crime statistics and that neighborhood-watch meetings are held in different parts of the city to give residents a forum to raise localized concerns. The mayor said residents should bring specific incidents to those meetings and that staff would obtain localized crime data and could agendize the matter if warranted.
Council Member Man noted personal familiarity with burglary and expressed confidence in the sheriff’s office while urging collaborative community responses: "It's not all on law enforcement to take care of everything; it truly is a collaborative effort between the community and law enforcement," he said.
City staff provided a list of nearby neighborhood-watch meetings and said the next meetings would be posted on the city website; the council urged the resident and neighbors to attend the September neighborhood-watch meeting at Bethlehem Lutheran and the October meeting at Clemenson School to speak directly with deputies and staff.
The council closed public comment after hearing no additional speakers and asked the city manager to follow up with neighbors on the affected street and report back if the issue appears to warrant formal agenda consideration.
Next steps: staff will review and report localized crime statistics to council; residents were advised to attend neighborhood-watch or sheriff meetings and to provide incident details so staff can determine whether further council action or a formal agenda item is appropriate.
