‘Lock it, Hide it, Keep it,’ Encino Residents Told

“Lock it, hide it, keep it” is the advice for Encino vehicle owners by the Los Angeles Police Department as stolen cars and burglaries and thefts from them continue to be the predominant property crime in the neighborhood.

That was the advice of LAPD Senior Lead Officer Robert Trulik at the monthly meeting of the Encino Neighborhood Council this past Wednesday night.

Five burglaries from vehicles were reported in five straight days (April 10-14) earlier this month in Encino, and the property crime trend has picked up again after a brief lull during the past week.

A vehicle was stolen Monday from the block of 17100 Killion St. in Encino and a theft from another vehicle occurred on the same day, according to Crimemapping.com, the national crime database to which the LAPD contributes real-time statistics.

Meanwhile, in Studio City, Senior Lead Officer Mike Lewis reports that “my numbers are exploding for burglaries from motor vehicles” and that he hasn’t seen “60, 70 cars broken into since 10 years ago.” Lewis attributes the rash of recent burglaries and car break-ins to the early release of prisoners because of budget cuts.