COMMUNITY MESSAGE FROM THE POLICE CHIEF
COMMUNITY MESSAGE FROM THE POLICE CHIEF
For our Hawthorne Community,
These past few weeks have been tough for everyone. From economic uncertainty, school closings, scrambling for childcare, trying to take in all of the information on how to avoid the Coronavirus pandemic, I am sure this has been an extremely trying and stressful time for many in our community. It is unlike anything we have experienced in recent memory.
Here at HPD, we have been working around the clock preparing and planning for the changes in how we do business. Things are rapidly changing, sometimes by the hour. We have to be quick in responding to the challenges in keeping our community safe.
We have made changes in our organization by reassessing resources and adjusting to the current and future needs for our community.
Protecting our Businesses
We have reassigned officers to patrol the shopping centers, grocery stores, and small businesses where there are long lines of people waiting to shop. We have deployed additional camera trailers in high-traffic areas to allow supervisors real-time video access to these areas. Officers in specialized units have been in touch with store managers and owners to make sure we can quickly respond to any problems or issues. K9 Officers have been doing security checks at many businesses throughout the city.
If you are a business owner in Hawthorne, as part of the “Hawthorne Safe Business” initiative, we encourage you to keep in touch with us through email at hpdweb@hawthorneCA.gov Lieutenant Joel Romero of the Special Operations Bureau will be overseeing this unit to make sure you have a direct contact for us as we work together through this challenging time.
Caring for our Seniors/Safety for students
The Community Affairs Bureau spent this week contacting people from the Memorial Center senior citizens center. HPD staff will conduct phone and email-based welfare checks throughout the upcoming weeks. Although school is out, many students are coming on campus for lunches. Our School Resource Officers will do their best to be around as much as possible.
We compiled a list of resources for our senior citizens which can be found at the endof this message. We hope this will help during these trying times. Questions? Email us at hpdweb@hawthorneCA.gov
Parking Enforcement
Following the guidelines from the City of Los Angeles, we have also suspended issuing citations for the following violations:
Street sweeping (sweeper will still be in service)
Peak traffic on the major streets
Permit parking
We will continue to enforce other parking violations (i.e. handicap violations, red zones, fire hydrants, etc.) to maintain order and safety. If you are not sure, be on the safe side and obey the signs. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.
Protecting our First Responders
The care and safety of our employees is our #1 priority. They continue to do their jobs and are working hard in keeping the community safe. However, as is the nature of the job, they are coming into contact with many people which increases their chance of being exposed to COVID-19.
We have adjusted the organizational structure of our department in the span of just a few days. We are now connecting remotely, using various software for teleconferences, and adjusting to the new norm of staying away from each other (social distancing). Detectives and Administrative staff are all in uniform ready to respond to and assist our patrol officers.
One of our priorities is to have enough supply of protective equipment (gloves, masks, hand sanitizers, etc.) for the front-line officers. This has been a challenge as the country is in severe shortage of supplies. We will continue to find these items to keep our officers protected.
Partnerships
All of the Police Departments in the South Bay work well and often together. The ability to share resources, exchange ideas, and work together as a team is a top priority for all of the Chiefs. We communicate daily with the Police Departments from Culver City, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes, Torrance, Gardena, and Inglewood. We also work closely with CHP and the LA County Sheriffs. Leadership at LAPD has been a great resource and partner to all of us. LA County Fire is also a trusted partner in serving our city.
Through these long-standing partnerships, we have plans in place to help and support each other as needs arise.
***
I am extremely proud of our team. Our IT staff have worked around the clock to prepare our agency with the necessary tools to communicate and function. The support staff (from our Admin folks supporting our front-line officers, the cleaning crew, Records staff, Forensics unit, Property officer, Desk officers, Community officers), they have all been here working tirelessly to keep the place running. Without them, we would not be able to perform our mission of keeping you safe.
The Officers have families at home, and many are facing the same challenges like everyone else. I appreciate their dedication and sacrifice to doing their jobs. It is what makes HPD a special place. Great people working together to serve and help our community.
I will keep you informed as news develops in the upcoming weeks. I know things are getting tough for many of you. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email us at hpdweb@hawhhorneca.gov.
Sincerely,
Michael Ishii
Chief of Police
March 20, 2020
Senior Citizen Assistance List
Emergency Services:
EMERGENCY 911
Police and Fire Dispatch Center 310-675-4444
Hawthorne Police Department Desk 310-349-2700
Information resources:
Focal Point on Aging https://www.torranceca.gov/home/showdocument?id=52641
Center For Disease Control (Covid-19) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
LA Country Covid-19 Information http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/coronavirus/
LA County Dept Mental Health https://dmh.lacounty.gov/
Urgent Care:
Lawndale Urgent Care 16818 Hawthorne Bl, Lawndale 310-542-0800
Bayside Medical Clinic 2301 w El Segundo Bl, Hawthorne 323-757-2118 24/7 service
Torrance Memorial Urgent Care 22411 Hawthorne Bl, Torrance 310-784-3740
Concentra Urgent Care 390 N PCH Ste 1000, El Segundo 310-640-9911
Hospitals:
Centinela hospital 555 E Hardy St, Inglewood 310-673-4660
Gardena Memorial hospital 1145 W Redondo Bch Bl 310-532-4200
Little Company of Mary 4101 Torrance Bl, Torrance 310-540-7676
Torrance Memorial 2841 Lomita Bl, Torrance 310-325-9110
Groceries:
Superior Market (Haw Bl / El Segundo Bl) senior hours: Every day from 7am -8am
Ralph’s Market (Haw Bl / 118th St) senior hours: Every day 7a – 7:30a Controlled access
Northgate Market (Rosecrans Ave / Prairie Ave) Unknown
Food For Less (Oceangate / Rosecrans Ave) Unknown
Target (120th St / Crenshaw Bl) senior hours: Wednesday 8a – 9a
Food Delivery:
Hawthorne Meals on Wheels 310-412-4380 (waiting list at this time)
Ralph’s Market (through Instacart) www.instacart.com
Post Mates www.postmates.com (restaurant delivery service)
Door Dash www.doordash.com (restaurant delivery service)
Pharmacies:
CVS Hawthorne Bl / 118th St 310-679-3668
CVS Rosecrans Ave / Inglewood Ave 310-263-7330
CVS Rosecrans Ave / Prairie Ave 310-675-0359
CVS Inside Target (120/Crenshaw) 323-492-1001
Walgreens Hawthorne Bl / 120th St 310-349-0130
Walgreens Rosecrans Ave / Prairie Ave 310-978-9167
Transportation Services:
South Bay Yellow Cab 866-400-4103
Bell Cab 800-999-9977
Uber www.uber.com
Lyft www.lyft.com
Additional Senior Services:
American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) 866-448-3615 www.aarp.com
Veteran’s Affairs 844-698-2311
Officer Chiarello - End of Watch March 13, 2020
Officer Chiarello - End of Watch March 13, 2020
Officer Iva Chiarello also affectionately known as ‘Christi’ or ‘Chia’ passed away yesterday after her valiant fight with cancer. Christi had a rare form of cancer that developed in her heart. For the past two years and five months, Christi has bravely faced her battle with cancer through several surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Throughout this time, Christi has remained brave with a positive outlook on life often comforting those surrounding her. Christi was never content to just recuperate at home and insisted on returning to her work at the Hawthorne Police Department Detective Bureau between treatments. Even through this last battle, Christi remained focused on gathering her strength back so that she could return to work in order to continue to provide her services for the department, community, and especially the youth.
Christi was hired by the Hawthorne Police Department in 1992 as a police recruit. She graduated from the Long Beach Police Academy in June of 1993 with Class 65. Throughout her career, Christi has worked in patrol, as a School Resource Officer for Prairie Vista South, Juvenile Detective, School Resource Officer for Hawthorne High School, and in her most recent assignment as a Special Victims Unit Investigator. She was one of the original members of our Special Enforcement Team who patrolled the city streets of Hawthorne on bicycle and targeted quality of life issues for the community. Christi developed her expertise in gangs as she investigated gang-related crimes and became very knowledgeable on the emerging gang members. Christi was one of our original Crisis Negotiator Team members as she assisted in developing the newly formed unit in its infancy. She also became one of the original members of our Peer Support Group who help lend guidance and support for her fellow employees as well as other agencies during their times of crisis.
Christi was always involved with our Hawthorne Police Officers Association by assisting with their events and their involvement with community events such as American Cancer Society Relay for Life and the Special Olympics Torch Run. One of Christi’s most cherished roles in the department was as the Police Explorer Advisor for Hawthorne Post 867. Christi has helped to develop and mentor countless youths as an Explorer Advisor for over the last fifteen years. She strived to provide guidance for these youths and help to mentor them in the proper direction so that they could ultimately fulfill their personal goals and dreams while becoming a valuable member of the community.
Christi was born in the state of Texas. She graduated from Hawthorne High School Class of 1980. Christi spent her childhood in the city of Hawthorne and has always been a resident of the South Bay. Christi is survived by her daughter, Amy, and her ‘big’ little brother Darnell Wallace and countless close friends and family not only in the Hawthorne Police Department but from agencies throughout the South Bay. Christi loved her ‘family’ at the Hawthorne Police Department and our community and always instilled in others to ‘Teach Peace!’
Armed Robbery - Suspect shot
On Tuesday, January 21st, 2020, at around 8:30 pm, HPD Officers responded to a shots fired call at 14115 Crenshaw Blvd. Once patrol officers arrived on scene they located several subjects that had been shot as a result of an attempted armed robbery at a cell phone store. The armed suspects entered the store and was confronted by a security guard (who was armed). The suspects and security guard fired at each other. As a result of the gunfire exchange, two suspects and the security guard were shot. One suspect suffered non-life threatening wounds while another suspect was hit multiple times and later died at the hospital. The security guard was hit in the chest but was wearing a ballistic vest and is expected to make a full recovery. The remaining suspects fled prior to officers arriving. Preliminary investigation by HPD Detectives point to the location possibly being an illegal marijuana dispensary. We do not have information on the identity of the two suspects who were shot or security guard at the time of this release. This crime is still in the beginning stages of the investigation and we are asking for the public’s help for any information anyone may have regarding this incident.
Murder Suicide
On Friday, January 10th, 2020, at roughly 2:54pm, officers from the Hawthorne Police Department responded to an unknown trouble call at a hotel in the 11400 South Hawthorne Blvd, in Hawthorne CA. Once Patrol Officers arrived on scene they located two unresponsive subjects and noticed each had suffered from a single gunshot wound. Los Angeles County Fire Department also responded to the scene and pronounced both subjects deceased. One subject was an elderly female in her 90’s and the other subject was a male in his 60’s, which is believed to be the female’s son. Hawthorne Police Detectives responded to the scene shortly after and conducted an initial investigation. Hawthorne Police Detectives located a suicide note in the room and a small revolver handgun lying on the bed next to the male subject. Los Angeles County Coroner’s office was contacted and responded to the scene, taking possession of both the deceased. The identities of the deceased will not be released until family can be located and notified by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office. If you have any information regarding this incident please contact the Hawthorne Police Department’s detective bureau.
dui/driver's license checkpoint results
The Hawthorne Police Department made 4 DUI arrests from alcohol and/or drugs and1,691 vehicles were screened while conducting a DUI/Driver’s License checkpoint on December 13th, 2019. The checkpoint was at Hawthorne Boulevard and Broadway Avenue between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. In addition, 59 drivers were cited or arrested for operating a vehicle while unlicensed or with a suspended/revoked license, a total of 61 citations were issued and 19 vehicles were towed. DUI Checkpoints are placed in locations based on collision statistics and frequency of DUI arrests. Last calendar year (2018), the Hawthorne Police Department investigated 115 DUI collisions that killed 2 people and injured 66 others. Drivers caught driving impaired and charged with DUI can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to be approximately $13,500. This includes fines, fees, DUI classes, license suspension and other expenses not to mention possible jail time. The Hawthorne Police Department reminds drivers that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze.” Prescription drugs, particularly those with a driving or operating machinery warning on the label, can impair and result in a DUI. Marijuana can also be impairing, especially in combination with alcohol or other drugs. The Hawthorne Police Department will be conducting another DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoint and/or DUI Saturation Patrol on December 20th, 2019 in our ongoing commitment to take suspected impaired drivers off our streets and highways, ultimately lowering the risk for deaths and injuries. Funding for this checkpoint was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Bank Robbery Suspect Arrested
On December 13th, 2019 at approximately 02:39 PM, Hawthorne Police Officers received a radio call regarding a bank robbery that just occurred at the Navy Federal Credit Union located at 5360 Rosecrans Ave. The suspect had taken $2,500 in cash using a note that he gave the teller. As officers were responding, they were able to locate the vehicle exiting the 405 freeway at Redondo Beach Blvd. Upon seeing the police, the suspect, later identified as Joseph McColl, began driving erratically in an attempt to flee. Officers initiated a pursuit through the City of Torrance that lasted several minutes. Officers utilized the PIT maneuver to safely disable the suspect vehicle and take him into custody. The $2,500 was recovered from McColl’s car and returned to the Navy Federal Credit Union. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified and responded to the scene. The case is currently still under investigation.
