The City of West Hollywood cancelled its regular council meeting to convene a Special Meeting of the City Council and Public Safety Commission on Monday, August 14, 2023 at 6 p.m. at the City of West Hollywood’s Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard.
Topics of the Special Meeting will include:
- An assessment and related presentation from the Center for Policing Equity (CPE), which has announced the release of a data-driven analysis that identifies racial disparities in law enforcement interactions; and
- An update on various public safety equipment, technology, and security enhancements, as well as a drone and fixed-camera pilot program with a real-time watch center to help support community safety efforts.
In 2021, the City of West Hollywood and the West Hollywood Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department began a partnership with the Center for Policing Equity (CPE) to examine racial disparities, where they may exist, in law enforcement interactions. The West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station shared data with CPE in order to receive analyses intended to support community and law enforcement collaboration on data-informed efforts to enhance equity in public safety. CPE has announced its West Hollywood Justice Navigator Assessment, which provides this assessment in an interactive digital platform. CPE’s approach to assessing racial disparities in policing uses population benchmarking in combination with other strategies that allow it to perform standardized analyses across law enforcement agencies. Population benchmarking cannot account for out-of-town visitors – though it is not known whether any disparity observed would appear larger or smaller if the non-resident population were fully accounted for. West Hollywood has approximately 35,000 residents, but its population swells each day with visitors.
In recent years, the West Hollywood City Council has provided direction to expand and upgrade public safety technology, equipment, and security in West Hollywood. With the advent of new and existing technology, the City is working toward new goals to prevent or deter certain crimes before they take place and to enhance security citywide. This Special Meeting will provide an opportunity to review a variety of technology recommendations and to collect feedback.
Details about the Special Meeting of the City Council and Public Safety Commission are available on the City Council Meeting Agenda website area, under the Current Agenda Packet link at www.weho.org/councilagendas. The Agenda contains information about how to attend and/or view the meeting, how to provide written correspondence or an e-comment, and how to provide public comment.
The Special Meeting will be available for viewing through the City’s WeHoTV website area at www.weho.org/wehotv. To provide additional access to the City’s public meetings, WeHoTV broadcasts are also available as a courtesy within the City of West Hollywood on Spectrum Cable Channel 10; on the City’s WeHoTV YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/wehotv; and on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Roku streaming platforms by searching for “WeHoTV” using search functions.
The City of West Hollywood’s Community Safety Department provides oversight of law enforcement and coordinates community programs to reduce crime and increase public safety and the quality of life for citizens, businesses, and visitors to West Hollywood. The City contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement, the Los Angeles County Fire Department for fire protection services, and Block by Block for security ambassador services. The City and the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station urge anyone in the community with public safety concerns to reach out to the Sheriff’s Station 24/7 at (310) 855-8850. In an emergency, always call 911.
The City’s Community Safety in the City of West Hollywood information resource provides extensive detail about the City’s proactive approach to Community Safety and related programs. This guide is available on the City’s website at www.weho.org/publicsafety.
People need to reject this dystopian surveillance state pre crime crap. Has anyone been paying attention the last three years? Wake UP!
“Disproportionate Suspensions of Black Students Reveal Racism in School Discipline.” It can’t be because of bad behavior it has to be racism. Liberal logic. Ever see a mob of Asians commit smash and grab robberies?
What “Racial disparities”? All of the suspects robbing everyone are black! All of the victims are white. helllo? Are those the racial disparities you are referring to?
It should be noted that there are only two topics on the agenda for this meeting. It is not, as the headline implies, a general interest discussion about law enforcement and public safety in West Hollywood……..Maybe it should be.