Silver Lake apartment complex owner puts up gate, fence to curb crime

SILVER LAKE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A local apartment owner put up a gate and fence on a Silver Lake street to keep people off the property, but the future of the fence is up to the city.

Neighbors from across the street applauded the owner of the complex, Jeff Palmer, after he took matters into his own hands and installed a fence and later a metal gate on a cul-de-sac next to his property.

The short stretch behind the 101 Freeway on London Street at Dillion Street is known to be a haven for crime. Between November 2014 and December 2015, the LAPD received 15 calls for service in the area, according to police records.

Palmer issued this statement to Eyewitness News: "Thank you for your interest in this community-wide effort to promote safety. Residents of the local neighborhood contacted us about their concerns regarding the increase of crime during our construction. We immediately sought out their input and that of the church to ensure that we would do everything in our power to make the community as safe-as-possible. In light of this spirit of community involvement, we all agreed that a temporary gate was in order to find an interim solution to protect residents and parishioners going to church and we erected the gate to stem the increase of crime and provide a safer haven for our community residents."

About 20 area residents signed a petition demanding that the city should be aware of the street closure.

Eyewitness News reached out to Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell, who said he supports the gate. Much of the community and the church next door also support the gate.

The Los Angeles Police Department is also showing support. Last year, before the gate was put up, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck sent a letter of support to the city. Just a couple of months ago, he sent a second letter and addressed the problematic site and how a fence could make a difference in the community.

Demetrius Martinez lives down the street from the fence and said it is not going to take care of the real issue.

"There's a good and there's a bad. It's cleaner for the community, but you've still got homeless people being displaced, so that issue is not being taken care of," he said.

He added that the homeless community is only being pushed to a different neighborhood.