Gripe : Unfairly Drafted in the War on Crime

NOEL ANENBERG, Reseda

Recently, a mom and pop doughnut shop in a strip mall in the Van Nuys area was threatened by an army of pimps, prostitutes and drug addicts who occupied the parking lot. Customers were scared away. Neighbors protested. The owners repeatedly called the police.

They got a no-nonsense response. The City Council voted to crack down on the doughnut shop, restricting its hours and mandating that fencing and lighting be installed. Mom and pop were placed on probation with terms stipulating that a security guard would be required (a cost they could not bear) if they could not do what the city had failed to do and provide basic police services.

Adding insult to injury, this tax- and fee-paying client was now being drafted for front-line action in the city’s war against crime.

The owners have now made some of the required fencing and lighting changes and are waiting to see if it’s enough to solve the problem. If not, the city may demand more restrictive measures that could cause the business to fail.

This sort of thoughtless rule-making gives me confidence that Los Angeles will sacrifice every last one of these businesses if that’s what it takes to control crime. And in the process, the city will sacrifice a viable tax and fee base, thereby further impairing its ability to provide police services.