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MY THOTS - We moved. A couple of years ago, my wife and I moved into a smaller home just north of Encino. As empty nesters, we were very happy to move out of the big house in Encino, where we had lived for over twenty years and raised our daughters and dogs. We were pleased to lower the usurious property tax we were paying for dubious city and county services. We also were grateful for the lower utility bills. We were content in our new dwelling and felt safer in our working-class neighborhood, away from Encino’s overbuilt black-and-white McMansions.
A couple of weeks ago, I was told that a Toyota had been stolen across the street from our house. We also discovered that various high-value tools and construction equipment had been stolen in broad daylight after the car was boosted. While I felt disturbed by those incidents, I brushed them aside, as all those crimes occurred on the street. The sanctity of the houses on the block seemed intact. Little did I know this was an omen that our illusion of safety would be shattered in short order.
So, on a recent Friday night after work, we packed up the car, loaded the dogs in the way back, and set off to our vacation home. As we pulled out of the driveway, we armed our Ring Alarm System and went merrily on our way. Little did we know that by packing up the car and driving off, we had just given the green light for our house to be broken into. Apparently, a late-model gray SUV with four young males inside was watching our house. About an hour later, our home was broken into.
As we cruised south, my wife and I were blissfully ignorant of the events at our house. Even though the Ring alarm was armed, we were not alerted. It seems Wi-Fi blockers are very effective against Ring’s devices. So, the first inkling that something strange was happening was Saturday night after dinner. Our Ring camera was letting us know there was a lot of activity on our driveway. Soon after, we had a call from the gas company saying that they were fixing a gas pipe at our house. Our house’s gas meter was spewing so much gas that it registered on their equipment at the distribution site.
One of the culprits who robbed our house used the gas meter as a ladder to launch himself over our fence leading to the backyard. While climbing over the 8’ fence, he broke a 2” gas pipe, creating an extreme fire hazard for our home and adjacent homes. Once inside, he opened the gate, and the four young men broke the glass on our bedroom door, opened the latch, and went straight to our clothing drawers and closets, throwing everything in them on the floor in search of valuables. And did they ever find valuables? Boy, did they ever. They also hit the closets, taking expensive purses, handbags, and designer shoes.
When we came home Sunday night and opened our front door, I noticed the coat closet door was open. That was strange, but I ran out of the house to collect our dogs, who were in a territorial dispute with the neighbor's dog. I heard my wife screaming for me to “get in here!” Dragging the dogs away from their dispute, I hurried into the house. Walking into the bedroom, I saw utter chaos as everything had been thrown all over the floor in an incomprehensible mess. Taking an instant inventory, my wife told us what we already knew: they took every good watch, and all the gold jewelry was gone.
Emotionally, this is very disturbing. My wife and I have been living in LA currently solely for economic reasons. So, having our house broken into in the most uncaring and insensitive manner certainly accelerates those feelings of loathing LA. My spouse and I feel like an oyster knife is stuck in our chests, pricking our hearts. While we intellectually understand this is only stuff, it is easy to feel defeated. Questions nag at us, like, will we ever be safe again? Can we ever leave our house with confidence?
The literature about being burgled and recovering is not positive; it notes that one can experience increased anxiety, depression, trouble sleeping, and additional stressors, even leading to full-blown post-traumatic stress disorder. The literature on this also suggests that once your house is burgled, it's likely to be burgled again in the next six months. In Encino, which is still experiencing a horrendous crime wave, we've had some homes that have been burgled as many as three times in a year! Just imagine, due to the crime wave here in Los Angeles, how many people are walking around overwhelmed with guilt, insecurity, rage, and other undiagnosed psychological problems because their houses have been burgled. This must weigh on the quality of life we experience here in Mayor Bass’s sanctuary city. Los Angeles is only a sanctuary for drug addicts, criminal border jumpers, thieves, the homeless, and the NGOs that serve them. It is not a safe place for decent people.
Essentially, the home is what social scientists call a sacred space. While it is typically filled with material things, it is also imbued with meaning. Families engage with one another in all kinds of meaningful practices, such as eating, praying, loving, and nurturing. A home is where we're supposed to have control; when that fails, it creates a profound sense of inadequacy and insecurity.
These unsettling thoughts and feelings, according to Dr. Man Cheung Chung, a British psychologist and professor at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, are normal. Dr. Chung researches the feelings of victims who have experienced different kinds of traumatic events. These invasive thoughts and feelings have everything to do with the home's cultural importance in our society. "Home is almost an extension of ourselves, isn't it?" Chung opines that the “Home is supposed to be secure. When we go home, we feel good; we can relax and let down our guard. Home is not just a physical but also a psychological space."
Social scientists also agree that burglary is especially traumatic because not only has your special space been invaded, but objects that hold great sentimental value are stripped from you in the coldest and cruelest manner. Additionally, it generates the feeling of isolation. How did none of the neighbors notice or hear? With a tremendous gas leak billowing around the houses, why did nobody think to check it out or call the Gas Company? Could they not smell the leak? What kind of people are these neighbors?
Everything else involves closing the barn door after the horse has left. We have installed a new, extensive security system that costs thousands of dollars—one that WIFI blockers will not thwart. We have also sent flyers asking all the pawn shops in the neighborhood to look out for certain pieces of heirloom jewelry we'd love to get back, not just because of their monetary value but because of their sentimental value.
We appreciated the police's arrival after we got home that Sunday night and their empathetic approach to investigating the burglary. Unfortunately, we are all very much left to our own devices to muddle through this experience, try to rebuild, and learn what lessons can be learned from such an incident. However, our doubts and fears accompany us whenever we leave the house or glance at the door; the perps came through. Can we ever regain the sense of security we thought we had?
LA has failed us. Its priorities are wrong, and LA will never be a high-trust society again. As we shared what happened to us on social media, it is shocking how many people have had the same robbery experience as we did. This cannot stand, and it cannot be the new normal—not now or in the future. District Attorney-elect Nathan Hochman, what are you going to do about this?
The solution to this pandemic of robberies is to double and double again the police force. Flood the zone. We need to have police accessible and nearby so that when a house is plundered or a store is the victim of a smash-and-grab, the police response time is as quick as the thieves are at looting and pillaging.
Predictably, now that Prop 36 has passed, the LA County Board of Supervisors (Vote for Us We’re Soft on Crime™) will resist getting tough on crime. LA County stooge Sheriff Robert Luna says there's no room in local jails for more inmates. However, former Sheriff Villanueva states that the jails have about 6,000 empty beds. Officialdom, please note that the public will no longer tolerate catch-and-release, and it is the responsibility of high-ranking police officials to enforce all the laws in the state.
If we don’t have enough jail beds, too bad. We should keep open the four prisons that Governor Hair Gel (Newsom) wants to close. Or build prison camps and more facilities to incarcerate the thieves who are terrorizing the city. If the County can find billions for the homeless, they can find hundreds of millions to build new prisons or build camps to house the thieves who've created havoc, pain, and suffering among the general population with impunity.
It is way overdue for elected officials in the City and County to serve the people who elected them. It is time for tough love and consequences. Protect us; don’t protect criminals. Do not deny the citizens of California equal protection under the law.
(Eliot Cohen has been on the Neighborhood Council, serves on the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council, is on the Board of Homeowners of Encino, and was the president of HOME for over seven years. Eliot retired after a 35-year career on Wall Street. Eliot is a critic of the stinking thinking of the bureaucrats and politicians that run the County, the State, and the City. Eliot and his wife divide their time between L.A. and Baja Norte, Mexico.)
