By Brooklynn Wong
One night after last week’s dramatic City Council meeting, a much smaller crowd gathered for a neighborhood watch meeting meant to discuss only the crime trends for one tract, but ended up wandering back over to the hot topic of homelessness.
New District 5 Council Member Connor Traut called for this meeting between the Buena Park Police Department and the residents of “The Bird Tract,” which is near Valley View and Orangethorpe, close to Buena Park’s border with La Palma, near the 91 and Corey Elementary.
About 15 residents showed up to the meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at Buena Park Junior High, in addition to a handful of representatives from BPPD.
On hand were Public Information Officer Sergeant Mike Lovchik, Area Commander Lieutenant Judy Williams, Crime Analyst Sara Treadway, Crime Prevention Officer Jessica Lopez, and BPPD’s two Homeless Liaison Officers, Detectives Kevin Franklin and David Pantoja.
Each spoke briefly, with the consensus being that the Bird Tract is relatively safe, with not many calls for service. Lieutenant Williams joked that in driving to the tract to prepare for the meeting, she discovered street names that she did not even know were in the city.
However even that area is being impacted by the homeless issue.
One citizen brought up the fact that the intersection of Flamingo and Holder attracts a lot of homeless, including one man who is often in the area and police have been called for him frequently.
However the homeless liaison officers said they are aware of and have made contact with that particular man, and expressed some frustration with different agencies having jurisdiction in that area.
First of all, Detective Pantoja said, “That man is a veteran and just wants to be left alone.”
However when he is up on the freeway, which he often is, he no longer even falls under the purview of BPPD, but of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the California Highway Patrol.
One citizen present said there is a lot of trash in that area, that it is “not a good scene,” and expressed concern over the fact that children walk through that area to get to school.
As for the Bird Tract specifically, the consensus was that it is one of the safest neighborhoods in the city, and residents want to keep it that way.
Crime mapping can be pulled for any area of the city at BPPD.com.
But the homeless issue continues to explode in Buena Park, so people wanted to talk more about that.
Police personnel provided much helpful information, including the things that tend to attract the homeless, namely recycling centers where they can make money, liquor stores and shelter.
The intersection of Western and Orangethorpe, which is one of the city’s homeless hotspots, was discussed as a case study for what the city and police can do. BPPD had the recycling center there reduce its hours of operation, and the Stater Brothers there can no longer sell single servings of alcohol, but only more expensive multi-serving units, in an attempt to dissuade people from buying cheap and easy-to-obtain portions.
After a lawsuit was brought against several Orange County cities for wanting to move their homeless out of public areas, but not having enough shelters for them to move into, Buena Park has been identified as an optimal potential place for a shelter. A building has been purchased by the city, and the city is now going through the process of hearing public feedback, which has largely not been positive, from the parents who live in the area surrounding the shelter who do not want their children coming in contact with people and objects the shelter might attract, and homeless advocates, who say a temporary shelter like this one is proposed to be, would only be a quick fix and does not take the people’s longterm well-being into account.
But police, city officials and others see the shelter in the city as a positive thing, to appease the District Court Judge who has said police departments can’t enforce anti-camping laws until more beds are available, and allow police and cities to get back to enforcing ordinances and cleaning up parks and streets.
On Feb. 12, a City Council meeting will be held from 5-7 p.m., and following that, a special meeting on this issue will take place, where the public will be given a chance to interface with the Council.
