2 Beat Cops Assigned to Jeffrey-Lynne Area

Responding to residents’ concerns about drug dealing and gang activity on the rise in Anaheim’s Jeffrey-Lynne neighborhood, two community police officers will be assigned to the area beginning late next week.

“They’ll become the eyes and ears for the community,” Lt. Charlie Chavez said.

Two officers will be reassigned from patrol to the community policing team, which will now consist of 14 officers and two sergeants.

Last month, residents and others asked police to work with them to combat the continuing crime in the low-income apartment neighborhood next to Disneyland.

This will be the fourth effort by the Police Department within the last 10 years to assign officers to the neighborhood.

“We were not planning to go back to Jeffrey-Lynne in the near future, but priorities do change,” Chavez said.

“Our own statistics show [the neighborhood] could benefit from our efforts.”

Community officers will work with residents and apartment building owners to identify issues and develop permanent solutions.

“We’ll bring in the necessary resources to tackle these issues,” Chavez said.

In a related effort, a proposal is under study to ban street parking. While the plan has met resistance from some residents, officials hope to convince them that it will help curb crime.

City officials say it would encourage tenants to use garages for cars instead of for storage, as hangouts or for illegal car repairs.

The plan also calls for creating parking areas to replace the loss of street parking.