Be Safe, Not Scared; Be Determined, Not Deterred

Larry David is a miniature schnauzer. I can count on one hand, in his 11 years, how many times he's so much as nipped at anyone as a warning. But he does have a loud, and sometimes aggressive bark. People have stopped to engage with him and will ask if he bites, and I usually feel compelled to share some version of just because he never has, doesn't mean he never will.  I walk him around the district multiple times a day – on occasion as early as 5 AM, and as late as 2 AM. I always feel safe outside, especially with my “ferocious” protector. 

My wife and I both live and work in the district, and when you see us out on the weekends, you usually see us with some combination of Larry, or our two boys. This past weekend we were able to plan a proper date night – without kids. Everything about Saturday night was great, except we were short on time. We would have loved to sit and talk, order dessert, go for a walk, and maybe order more drinks, but I try to be respectful of other people's time when they're watching our boys.  Instead of delaying, we came back home, paid the babysitter, and I walked Larry without incident.  

Sunday morning, the first text I read, at 8:40 AM, was about a homicide that occurred shortly after midnight on Grand and 11th.  

Our community celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Farmers Market at the intersection of Grand and 11th. It's where Taste of South Park is presented by the neighborhood association. It's the place where three news stations documented our lighting of 11th Street. We're planting nearly 300 rose bushes on 11th Street.  It's an important intersection, at what I think is the best residential block in our district; this block is where my kids can scooter or do yoga at the South Park Commons, and where after school treats come from the South Park Pharmacy. If I had ordered dessert, I could have been at that intersection, just after midnight, walking Larry David – the schnauzer with an attention seeking bark.  

My wife will occasionally walk home later in the evening, and 11th and Grand is the part of her walk where she typically exhales, and maybe relaxes. The first time she needed to walk home late by herself, I reminded her that we offer a Safe Walks program. If anyone calls the BID's dispatch line and request an ambassador escort, we will provide it. It's a service that is rarely used. It's requested on average about once a week in our district. Not even my wife chooses to use it, but we will always offer it. Sometimes she'll drive what amounts to a little more than a few blocks, but often she feels comfortable walking because the path down 11th Street feels safe. 

I review crime maps for all downtown once a week, and most of the incidents that happen in DTLA, don't happen in this neighborhood. Our ambassadors receive on average 3 calls for service per day related to public safety. Our team performs an average of 9 wellness checks per day. The most recent homeless count yielded only 20 individuals residing in the district.  Yet unhoused transients moving through the district account for nearly all our safety calls and wellness checks. For nearly 2 years we employed outreach workers, but most individuals either refused services or we were unable to connect them to housing. So instead, we diverted resources to more safety ambassadors. 

Our commitment to public safety continues to be robust and growing. At a recent board meeting we committed to adding five additional safety ambassadors. We expend more resources on public safety now than during any prior time in our BID's history. We currently spend 66% of our budget keeping the district clean and safe, and project to spend 70% in 2026. We are in the process of replacing all our open wastebins, not only to create efficiency in keeping the neighborhood clean, but to actively discourage transient behavior like digging through trash and making a mess of the surrounding area.    

Our team is trained in de-escalation, but when our team cannot deescalate a situation, or encourage someone to relocate, we rely on LAPD. We are committed to supporting LAPD's efforts to stand up a real time crime center by the end of this year. And we've advocated successfully three years in a row for an additional overtime funding for downtown, even as the city deprives LAPD of other resources in a budget squeeze. 

However, it currently takes LAPD nearly a year to recruit, train, and onboard new officers, and the City's budget will result in a loss of approximately 300 officers next year. Chief McDonnell has said we need 12k officers. Other leaders have historically said we need 10k officers. We have 8400 officers and declining. Operationalizing overtime will be challenging. Lack of staffing will make it difficult to implement requested foot patrols. Many other policing tactics such as bike patrols, drones, and specialized task forces, will necessarily take a back seat to responding to urgent calls for services. 

I began rebuilding places almost 20 years ago, working to rebuild the criminal justice system in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. I established programs and organizations to support the rebuilding of the entire system of delivering public safety. We focused there, because we knew no one would invest in rebuilding New Orleans, if they didn't believe we were prioritizing public safety. Does that sound familiar? 

In a meeting this week with LAPD leadership, I told Chief McDonnell that the current system in Los Angeles – every aspect of it – is as broken as the New Orleans system that was exposed in Hurricane Katrina. For Los Angeles, the pandemic was the disaster that exposed the system to many, and unlike other major cities, Los Angeles has never galvanized behind an investment in Downtown's recovery. It's as if there was an assumption that the passage of time alone would move us into another economic cycle that would fix all our problems without a significant public plan and investment that starts with public safety. The Olympics are coming is a fact, not the foundation of a recovery plan.  

And yet, I'm oddly comforted by my familiar understanding of the magnitude of this problem. We can all begin to hopefully level set our expectations and direct our focus to solving it – with the urgency that it requires. While also acknowledging we're eating an elephant, not microwaving a solution. Patience can be girded by the positive trends in overall public safety data, but our motivation to act with intention must be persistent. We have to hold elected officials accountable for prioritizing a safe environment for residents, businesses, and visitors.  

Last weekend's homicide at 11th and Grand, was one in which a transient randomly attacked someone just after midnight. Safety ambassadors from a neighboring BID knew the suspect well, and he'd previously been nonviolent in their multiple engagements with him. This was someone living in a tent, that had previously refused help from homeless services. LAPD responded quickly when they were called to the scene. Tragically, this will be the second high profile homicide in our district in the last two years. And while these incidents are rightfully alarming, according to data shared by LAPD, Los Angeles – including Downtown, but especially our neighborhood – is relatively safe. But if no one feels safe and if the outside perception is that it isn't, that may be all that objectively matters. 

If we'd ordered dessert, I can so clearly see how I could have been the victim that night. When I worked in New Orleans there was a shooting downtown, in the afternoon, on the same street I usually walked home, but I was sick that day. In Vancouver there was an early morning stabbing of a father in the same vicinity as my early morning walk to work after dropping my own son at school. By definition, random violence occurs outside of the guardrails, expectations, and systems we design to protect ourselves and our places. Like me, many easily imagine it could have been them or someone they know. 

I often think I read the thoughts of the little league parents when they learn my boys are growing up in downtown, not in a residential neighborhood surrounding the ballpark. Or sometimes I see it clearly in the startled eyes of their classmates' parents when I tell them we live downtown. Neither South Park nor Social District rings a bell to these people; their raised eyebrows and grimaces only revert slightly back to normal when I tell them I live in the nice part near LA Live. But we've yet to host a playdate. 

And yet, repeatedly, I continue to choose downtowns. For all the same reasons anyone does – diversity, density, opportunity, connection, proximity, engagement, culture. There are nearly a hundred thousand people living in DTLA, and another 17 million visit annually. Almost all walk through our neighborhoods without incident. I've met other parents who are raising downtown kids, and that number seems to be growing. There are many residents, some who also own businesses in this neighborhood, that loudly refute the negative perception that might drive away business if it persists, while just as vociferously advocating for a greater LAPD presence and more effective intervention in dealing with the unhoused and the unwell. Being a downtown stakeholder means both being its biggest booster, and consistently bringing attention to our biggest challenges.  

I walked from my office to LAPD Headquarters earlier this week, up Broadway and returning down Spring Street, I walked by armed security outside many of the stores and businesses. Nearly every block seemed to have at least two security guards. But their presence didn't make me feel safer, if anything it stirred the opposite feeling. Our Downtown can at times be unsettling. I'd admit it can even be uncomfortable. But rarely is it unsafe. 

My wife and I choose to live, work, and raise two sons in this neighborhood. I've called the dispatch line to report unwell individuals more in the last two months, than in the previous two year. My level of caution when out downtown has remained the same across the last 20 years in four different cities. Downtowns are not suburbs; they can be chaotic at their best. And while I know something scary could happen, I know it most likely won't. Yet I feel compelled to tell my family maybe we should cross the street if I see a situation that poses even the slightest bit of risk. 

I've walked Larry David a little bit earlier in the evening this week than I sometimes would have. My wife drove to an event instead of walking a few blocks. But I doubt those changes will stick. I hope there is no reason for them to. We've had multiple internal operations meetings about our ambassador staffing levels, including deployment of overnight patrols. This week I've had conversations with Senior Lead Officer Padilla, Commander Jovel, and Chief McDonnell about ways we can tactically work together to improve public safety. There is a community town hall on public safety scheduled on June 17th, and I'm meeting with the South Park neighborhood association this week to discuss public safety. 

Activating vacant ground floors continues to be both an economic development priority and a critical step towards creating a vibrant and safe environment for visitors and residents alike. We're making intentional investments in public spaces, planting seeds for the future growth of the community. We're working with tourism and hotel leaders on strategies to not only increase visitors, but ensure they get out into the neighborhood and have a positive experience. The more of us that feel safe experiencing the neighborhood outside our condos and hotel rooms, and not via the Citizen App or social media, the better off we'll be.    

Patience, urgency, hopefulness, vigilance, fear, and optimism are exhausting to constantly hold together as both a resident who calls this neighborhood home, and as a leader responsible for building on its present to shape its future. But that's the mixed bag of energy that drives us forward. Be safe, not scared; be determined, not deterred. There's good news ahead of us that I can't wait to share.