CALABASAS : Hot Line Created for Crime Tips

A growing concern over crime in one of the safer cities of Los Angeles County has prompted Calabasas officials and community members to establish a hot line for young people and others who want to provide tips to the Sheriff’s Department.

“Everyone’s concerned about what’s been going on at other campuses in other school districts, and we don’t want to become one of the statistics,” Calabasas City Councilwoman Karyn Foley said.

Although sheriff’s officials report that crime remains at a low level in the Calabasas area, residents might have become more focused on the issue during the recent law-and-order campaigns of several Los Angeles mayoral candidates, as well as concern over the possibility of civil unrest.

“After the problems with the civil unrest last year, I think people are more sensitized toward crime, even in Calabasas, which has remained pretty stable,” said Lt. James Glazar of the sheriff’s Lost Hills/Malibu Station.

The (800) SPEEK-UP hot line, scheduled to be activated by the end of the month, will allow students and community members to call the station’s Juvenile Intervention Team free of charge. The one-year trial project was funded by an $850 grant from Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills.