Crime-Plagued Strip Mall Targeted by Police
Several city agencies plan to crack down on crime and blight at a shopping center long plagued by the sale of fake documents and drugs, officials said Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Police Department, the city attorney’s office and the city building and safety department will target Glen Square, a strip mall at Sherman Way and Variel Avenue, said Deputy City Atty. Jason Dominguez, who is with the Citywide Nuisance Abatement Program.
Investigators will review all arrests during the last two years in a three-block area encompassing the shopping center and target drug sales and blight, Dominguez said. A citizen’s complaint prompted the probe, he said.
“We will have a better view of how much enforcement will be needed in that area,” said Luis Lopez, a community resource specialist with the city attorney’s office.
Officials said they are also concerned that additional crime has spilled into the area because of law enforcement efforts underway in neighboring Winnetka. Since January, several city agencies have been targeting a 10-block area there as part of a nuisance abatement program. Between January and June, authorities have reduced various crimes by 20% to 45% in the targeted area, Dominguez said.
Glen Square has long been a popular place for buying fake immigration green cards, Social Security cards, driver’s licenses and drugs in the West Valley.
In August, Immigration and Naturalization Service agents arrested four vendors for allegedly selling counterfeit documents at the strip mall.
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