Valley Glen residents clash with LA City over Flock camera security signs

VALLEY GLEN, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Residents of a San Fernando Valley neighborhood say their 24-7 security watch signs have helped cut down on crime, but the city has taken the signs down.

After being taken down Monday, the warning signs that Flock Safety cameras are in use in a Valley Glen neighborhood were put back up on Tuesday -- around two dozen of them.

Here’s the problem -- the signs are on city property -- power poles and sign poles, which is not allowed, according to the city of Los Angeles.

Debbie Stopeck is leading the charge to keep the signs up where drivers can see them, on the power and sign poles. The signs and cameras, she says, has helped decrease crime in the area.

"We haven’t had any car break-ins, my neighbor over here had her car stolen and broken in. She had, I think, her home broken in, the neighbor across the street from my house next to this house they broken in. We haven’t had that happen. So why, would we make more work for the police and everybody else if this is working. And we’re paying for it. They’re not, we are."

The city contract with Flock Safety was terminated this summer over concerns of inadequate data and privacy concerns for residents. The cameras are being paid for by a group of residents who live in the neighborhood. They’re posted along Crewe Street and Sunnyslope Avenue.

In a written statement, Councilman Adrin Nazarian says, in part, "Over two years ago, a string of burglaries throughout the Valley led a group of Valley Glen residents to privately invest in cameras and signage in their neighborhood, which made them feel safer. However, these signs were posted on public property and must adhere to city regulations, which they do not.“

So the city’s Department of Transportation removed them on Monday. The signs were returned to Stopeck the same day.

She and some of her neighbors want to work something out to allow the signs to remain posted where they are -- on L.A. city property. 

"I’m not moving the signs. We just lifted them higher to hopefully acquiesce the city. We put them 4-5 inches higher than they were. And, you know, we just want to protect our neighborhood. It’s not about being safer, these are deterrents along with our cameras,“ Stopeck said.

Neighbor Eero Kartiala told Eyewitness News, "The cameras are helping if anybody coming by that shouldn’t be here, you know, we’ve got a record of it and if there’s any crime we can help place track them down."

Now residents will wait and see what can be worked out to keep these signs up legally.