Possible Burglars Arrested

On June 27, 2008 at 3am officers made a traffic stop on two vehicles in the Uptown area. A subsequent search of the vehicles revealed burglary tools, including glass cutters, a center punch window breaking tool, portable radios, gloves, and flashlights. Officers also found potential stolen goods and a large sum of cash. Both suspects were on parole and were taken into custody for suspicion of burglary. If you have been a victim of a vehicle or residential burglary in the past few days, please contact us at 562-945-8250.
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Whittier PD to Crack Down on Drunk Drivers

Whittier, CA. – On Friday, June 27, 2008, the Whittier Police Department will conduct a Driving Under the Influence Checkpoint. The checkpoint will be conducted in the area of Whittier Blvd. and Colima Rd. The time of the checkpoint will be 7:00 PM to 3:00 AM.

The checkpoint and other enforcement efforts are part of the Whittier Police Department’s grant project for “Selective Traffic Enforcement Program.” The funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Officers will also be checking for unlicensed motorists or those who are driving with a suspended driver’s license. Any motorist found driving with an invalid license may have their vehicle impounded for 30 days and be issued a citation.

For further information, please contact Sgt. Dan Lowe at 562-945-8256

Missing Person Located By Officers

On June 22, 2008 at 6:50pm officers received a call of a critical missing person.  The missing person was a 64-year-old disabled man who was visiting from out of state.  Officers conducted an extensive search in vehicles, on foot and with the use of a police helicopter.  After two and a half hours, officers located the missing person on the corner of Pickering and Pacific.  He was transported back to his family’s location.

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Wanted Person In Custody

On June 21, 2008 at 11pm officers attempted to question a suspicious person who was looking into back yards in the area of Broadway and Gretna. When the suspect saw the officers, he ran away and a short foot pursuit ensued. Officers were able to catch up to and detain the suspect. It was discovered that he had an outstanding warrant. He was taken into custody and booked at the Whittier Police Department Jail.
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Male And Female Found Shot In Vehicle

Santa Fe Springs, CA. - On June 21, 2008, at 2:15 p.m., the Whittier Police Department received a call from the California Highway Patrol, advising two gunshot victims had been located inside a vehicle at Telegraph Road and the 605 Fwy. Upon arrival at the location officers located a female and male victim seated in the front seats of an SUV, stopped on the off ramp of the northbound 605 Fwy. The female seated in the passenger seat had a single gunshot wound to the head, and was pronounced dead at the scene. The male driver also had a single gunshot wound to the head, and was transported to a local hospital.

Preliminary investigation indicates the possibility of a murder/suicide, and there are no known outstanding suspects at this time.

At this time neither of two people have been identified, and the Whittier/Santa Fe Springs detectives' investigation continues. Anyone with information should contact the Whittier Police Department at (562) 945-8250.
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Attempted Robbery - Suspect In Custody

Santa Fe Springs - On June 20, 2008 at 8:08pm a female victim was walking near the athletic fields at the 9700 block of Pioneer Boulevard carrying a purse over the shoulder. She was accosted from behind by a suspect, who punched her in the head several times and attempted to remove her purse. After failing to release the purse straps from the victim's body, the suspect gave up and walked away from the location.

Luckily, the victim informed arriving officers that she had seen the suspect in the neighborhood before and provided a complete and detailed description of the suspect. Officers conducted a thorough check of the area and located the suspect at the corner of Charlsworth and Millergrove. He was positively identified and was taken into custody for attempted robbery.
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Stolen Vehicle Recovery - Suspects In Custody

On June 19, 2008 at 1:31am, officers observed a vehicle driving at a high rate of speed in the Uptown Whittier area. When officers tried to stop the vehicle, the suspect attempted to eluded the police unit. A short pursuit ensued, which ended when the suspect collided with the Rick's Burgers building at Penn and Greenleaf. Damage to the suspect vehicle and the building were minor.

Two known WVL gang members were arrested. The vehicle was stolen earlier in the night.
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Metal Theft Arrest

On May 18, 2008 a theft of metal tubing occurred at Step Up Scaffolding in Santa Fe Springs. The stolen metal was estimated at $8000. A Santa Fe Springs Public Service Officer and Whittier Police CSI staff were able to locate a finger print at the location following the theft. The fingerprint was analyzed and identifies a suspect. On June 19, 2008 detectives arrested a 35-year old suspect from the County area of Whittier and charged him with grand theft. He was booked at the Whittier Police Department Jail.
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Search Warrant Nets Drugs and Guns

Santa Fe Spring - A search warrant served by Whittier and Santa Fe Springs investigators on 6-18-08 netted a variety of drugs including crack cocaine, methamphetamines, and marijuana. Also located were two handguns and cash. Two adults were taken into custody.
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Wireless Telephone Laws FAQs

Two new laws dealing with the use of wireless telephones while driving go into effect July 1, 2008. The Whittier Police Department has put together a "Frequenetly Asked Questions" guide regadring the new laws.

View the Wireless Telephone Laws FAQs
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Burglary Suspects - In Custody

On June 17, 2008 at 12:25pm four suspects entered the AT&T store at the Whittwood Towne Center and committed a theft of several cell phones. The suspects left the store and entered a vehicle, which was followed by an alert citizen. When the citizen blocked the getaway car, the suspects rammed the citizen's vehicle in an attempt to escape. After several failed attempts, the suspects fled on foot.

Whittier Officers responded to the area and were able to contain the suspects in a an adjacent neighborhood. A search of several back yards resulted in the arrest of three juveniles and one adult. All four were transported to the Whittier Police Department and were booked at the Whittier Jail for commercial burglary and the driver was also charged with vandalism to the citizen's vehicle.

The stolen property was recovered.
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Pit bull Shot After Attacking Owner

From the Whittier Daily News...

Police officers shot and killed a pit bull Saturday after the dog mauled its owner, officials said. The incident occurred about 1:15 p.m. on Court Avenue.

Officers responding to a call of a dog attack found a pit bull running loose, police said. When police tried to trap the dog, the pit bull lashed out and charged at one of the officers, forcing them to shoot, officials said.
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Armed Robbery

Santa Fe Spring - On 6-12-08 at 5:10pm, the victim was riding his bicycle between the Town Center Hall and library buildings when he was confronted by three male Hispanic suspects. One suspect pointed a handgun at the victim and demanded his bicycle. After the property was obtained, the three suspects ran to a nearby parked white Toyota pickup with a blue racing stripe and fled southbound on Alburtis street. The suspects were further described as 17-18 years old and two wore bandanas.

If you have any information regarding this crime, please contact us at (562) 945-8250

Transformer Fire/Power Outage

An electrical transformer overloaded in the area of Russell and Larrylyn on 6-12-08 at 4 pm, which caused an outage affecting a multi-block area, including traffic control signals at Scott and Whittier.

Burglary Suspect Arrested

From the Whittier Daily News....

SANTA FE SPRINGS - Officers arrested a second man wanted for breaking into two homes and recovered property stolen from other burglaries, detectives said Wednesday.

Fernando Mosqueda, 20, of Cudahy was booked Tuesday on suspicion of burglary. He was being held at the Whittier Police Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail. His alleged partner, Sergio Rodriguez, 20, of Bell, was arrested May 27 and remains in custody.

Whittier police Detective Gonzalo Ponce said the duo is suspected of pulling about 15 burglaries in Santa Fe Springs, Huntington Park, South Gate, Downey and Bell. Ponce said the pair are suspects in four or five Santa Fe Springs residential break-ins.

The burglaries occurred in the daytime and the culprits ransacked bedrooms in search of money and jewelry, he said. They also allegedly took items like television sets, video game systems and computers.

Investigators pulled over Mosqueda when he left his home on Tuesday. A PT Cruiser believed to have been used as a getaway vehicle in the recent Santa Fe Springs burglaries was recovered, as well as a video game system. Ponce said a TV, games and a laptop computer taken during other burglaries were also found.

Shiara Davila, spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office, said Rodriguez has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree residential burglaries and one count of receiving stolen property.

Police Seek Robbery Suspect

On June 10th at 10:30am, a White male suspect described as 6' 2" tall and weighing 250 pounds with short brown hair, entered the ‘Check Into Cash’ store at 15907 Valley View Avenue and brandished a handgun while demanding money. After he received the cash, the suspect pulled a videotape from a surveillance camera before leaving. No vehicle was seen however, anyone with further information is urged to contact the Whittier Police Department at (562) 945-8250.

Building mutual understanding and respect

From the Whittier Daily News....

The phone rings.

"Traffic, Sgt. Lowe."

The caller immediately wants to know why the police are not doing their job and stopping all the speeding motorists or why did I receive a parking ticket when I have been parking that same way for years?

I usually sense that the callers are often unsatisfied and frustrated when I reply, "Speed is not specific to your street, it is an issue throughout the city" or that "the length of time you have parked in a certain manner does not make it legal, it just means that the violation has not been enforced until now."

The caller with the speeding issue wants an officer at the location today and every day hereafter. I try, often to no avail, to explain to the caller how the deployment of department resources (officers) is based on the street's traffic collision history and other factors.

The recipient of the parking citation wants the citation dismissed and is unhappy when told that the citation cannot be dismissed since it was a valid citation based on the violation.

I have had to answer these types of calls, and many similar calls, on a daily basis during my time as the Traffic Bureau supervisor for the Whittier Police Department.

During my 24-plus years in law enforcement, I have learned that many people are frustrated with their police department because of misinformation or lack of any information. An informed public means greater understanding and an increase of respect.

An increase of respect brings about stronger partnerships between the public and police. Strong partnerships between the public and police make a community stronger.

The information, understanding, and respect flows both ways. I learned this lesson after six years of teaching "Administration of Justice" part time at two of the local high schools. My respect for the teaching profession and high school students increased and my students gained respect for law enforcement as evidenced by the fact that some of my former students are now working as officers at this department.

My problem: How do I reach the public as I did high school students when I was teaching?

Then I heard about a traffic officer from an agency in Northern California who writes a column in his local newspaper. The column solicits questions from the community regarding any topic dealing with traffic or parking. I thought it was a great opportunity to provide information regarding traffic/parking issues, as well as improving understanding and raising respect on both the public's and the police department's behalf.

If you are a skeptic regarding this idea, then look at it from this perspective. Those readers with children have undoubtedly been tasked with helping your child with his/her homework.

Before you can help your child with his/her homework, you must have a basic understanding of the subject matter, that is unless you don't mind your child looking at you with the same dumbfounded look that the student participants on the game show, "Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader" look at the adult contestants.

So if you do not want to give or receive a dumbfounded look then "ask a traffic cop." Please e-mail any traffic or parking-related questions to dlowe@cityofwhittier.org

Officers "Clean Up" the Streets with Multiple Arrests

Santa Fe Springs - While patrolling in the area of Alburtis Drive and Broaded Street on June 4th at 8:30pm, a Whittier Police K9 Officer received information that a male was tagging a wall in the neighborhood. He set up from a distance and watched a juvenile ‘tag’ a residential wall off of Alburtis several times. The Officer confronted the Santa Fe High School student and he was arrested.

Then, only two hours later in the 10600 block of Pioneer Boulevard, a citizen who lives on Clarkman Street reported he saw three males exit a parked car on the street and run over to the buildings on Pioneer with items in their hands. Officers set up a perimeter and caught three subjects as they were in the process of tagging the rear wall of a business, adjacent to the rail road tracks. One adult and two juveniles were taken into custody.

Pistol Packing Gang Members in Custody

On June 3rd at 8:00pm, while working a patrol assignment in the area of Lambert Road and Villa Drive, two members of the Whittier Police Department's Special Enforcement Team made a traffic stop on a vehicle for unsafe backing. A pat down search of the passenger, an admitted gang member, produced live .38 handgun rounds and shaved Toyota keys. The driver was on felony probation. A search of the vehicle produced the handgun of the same caliber as the ammunition located earlier. Both subjects were arrested for possession of a firearm with special circumstances and identified as David Jimenez (01-20-86) and Juan Hernandez (06-09-72) of Whittier.

Taggers in Custody

Santa Fe Springs - On June 3rd at 5:40pm, Whittier Police Detectives were in a plain car travelling south on Greenleaf Avenue just south of Mulberry Road when they saw a male spray painting the back of a building which was adjacent to the railroad tracks. One Detective gave foot chase and caught the tagger and other Officer's who arrived to assist, caught the ‘lookout’ by the York Field playground as he tried to flee the scene via scooter. Both males were juveniles who lived in Whittier and were remanded into custody.

Traffic Enforcement at PSA 2 High Collision Intersections

Traffic safety is a serious matter of concern for the Whittier Police Department. In 2007, Whittier had 941 traffic collisions that included 11 fatalities and 478 injuries. Whittier has 11 “high collision intersections.” Eight of those intersections fall within PSA 2. In fact, PSA 2 accounts for 83% of the traffic collisions that occur at high collision intersections. PSA 2 high collision intersections include:

• Santa Fe Springs Rd &Washington Blvd


• Whittier Blvd & Laurel Ave


• Mulberry Dr & Greenleaf Ave


• Whittier Blvd & Mar Vista St


• Painter Ave & Lambert Rd


• Whittier Blvd & Painter Ave


• Hadley St & Whittier Blvd


• Santa Fe Springs Rd & Mulberry Dr.

A study by Northwestern University indicates that directed traffic enforcement has a positive impact on traffic collision and injury reduction. This study looked at a concept called the “traffic index.” The traffic index is a percentage based ratio that compares the number of injury traffic collisions with the number of hazardous violation citations that are issued by officers. Hazardous violations include traffic offenses related to speed, stop signs, red lights, seatbelts and other unsafe moving violations.

The Northwestern study indicates that in order for an agency to have any measurable impact on the reduction of injury traffic collisions, it must maintain a traffic enforcement index of 25%. The Whittier Police Department typically averages a traffic index of only 13%. PSA 2 officers are committed to reducing the number of death and injury related traffic collisions by aggressively changing this statistic.

Therefore, PSA 2 personnel will be partnering with the WPD Traffic Bureau to help reduce the number of collisions in PSA 2. This will be a multi-faceted approach that will include an educational campaign and strict enforcement of hazardous traffic violations in and around the areas of these high collision intersections. By doing so, we hope to save lives and reduce injuries caused by unnecessary traffic collisions. In order to better serve and protect our community, we will be heavily enforcing hazardous vehicle code violations. If stopped and found to be in violation, law enforcement will issue citations without warning.

Rash of daytime burglaries prompts police warnings

From the Whittier Daily News....

SANTA FE SPRINGS - Due to a recent spate of daytime home burglaries, city officials are telling residents how to avoid becoming the next victim.

The Department of Police Services called residents and also put out fliers at city facilities like City Hall and the senior center last week.

The flier tells people to secure garages, windows and doors, keep shrubbery cut low and not too dense around doors and windows, and encourage neighbors who are home during the day to call police if they see any suspicions person, cars or activity.

"We just want people to be aware in case they see (these) individuals and to call us," said Dino Torres, assistant to the director of police services.

Torres said the department made close to 2,000 calls, adding that it was the first time they used the phone tree system for this type of notification.

The community notice and phone calls to residents are a response to five recent residential burglaries. The suspects are described as two black men and one black woman.

Whittier police spokesman Officer Jason Zuhlke said there were three burglaries in April and two in May that happened in different parts of the city. Santa Fe Springs contracts for police services with Whittier.

He said the modus operandi is the same; the suspects were able to slip locks and open doors. The burglars took cash and jewelry.

The suspects used different vehicles for the burglaries but were seen
in a red maroon Toyota Camry with paper plates at one of the break-ins.

Zuhlke said the first burglary happened April 29 in the 11700 block of Parkmead Street, where cash kept under a mattress was taken. A neighbor noticed the Camry backed into the driveway with a woman in the driver's seat and later saw two men run out of the house.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Police Services Center at (562) 409-1850.