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Residents hear updates on sanitation, police presence, cameras and code enforcement in Hawthorne Station
Summary
Sanitation officials outlined a planned move to standardized curbside trash cans and a bid process for equipment; police said call volume in Hawthorne Station has dropped and described Flock camera access; code enforcement announced sweeps and a new environmental court.
Sanitation, police and code-enforcement staff briefed Hawthorne Station residents on service changes, public-safety trends and enforcement steps during a community meeting hosted by Councilmember Joe Carn.
Cedric Hand, the city’s sanitation superintendent, described a planned universal trash-can program that will be procured through a competitive bid. Hand said curbside cans will standardize collection operations and the city will transition away from backyard pickup except for identified seniors and special cases.
"We're trying to implement the universal trash can program," Hand said, adding procurement must follow the bid process and the city aims to modernize collection without cutting frontline support.
Police Majors Manning and Durden said the department has increased presence in the neighborhood and reported a "major decrease" in call volume. They described use of cameras, bike patrols and extra patrols and urged residents to file incident reports for recurring problems so the department can build a record for enforcement.
Residents asked who has access to the city’s Flock camera feeds. Major Manning said the system is primarily a law-enforcement resource; owners of individually purchased Flock cameras may retain access to their camera’s data and the department uses Flock data to assist investigations.
On short-term rentals, Councilmember Carn said the city has passed an ordinance that restricts Airbnbs and that code enforcement is working with city staff to enforce the rule; the new environmental court will hear code-enforcement cases.
Wendell Molden, the new code enforcement supervisor, described recent apartment sweeps that found multiple violations and said repeat offenders will be referred to court. Molden provided contact information and encouraged residents to call for on-site enforcement.
A city power official described plans for distribution automation—remote-operated switches that can isolate faults and automatically restore power to some customers—to reduce outage duration; the official also said the city fields 24/7 outage reports and is coordinating with AT&T on low-hanging conductors.
Officials said they will study parking and pedestrian safety around Brandon Park and explore additional spaces and a crosswalk to reduce hazards during events.
Next steps: sanitation will proceed with a bid process for curbside cans, police urged residents to document recurring incidents with reports, and code enforcement will continue sweeps supported by the new environmental court.
