Marshall de Hutton | Editor

Community continues to prioritize safety, lighting improvements

The summer had an ominous tone for the artsy, beer-centric neighborhood of North Park. Six late-night assaults targeting lone women stuck to the minds of residents since early June.

While there was an audible sigh of relief with the Sept. 8 arrest of 23-year-old David Angelo Drake in connection with several of the attacks, apprehension still hangs in the air. Now, nearly three months after the first attack, an invigorated commitment to public safety is a visible effect of the summer’s attacks.

On social media and in conversation, many residents remain concerned that the arrest of Drake will not end the crime spree. Indeed, two of the six attacks were perpetrated by two men, meaning at the very least, Drake’s cohort is still at large. Furthermore, some have pointed to the fact that Drake, a tall, slim black man, looks considerably different than the short, braces-wearing Hispanic man described in police sketches.

Although no similar assaults have been reported in the North Park area since Drake’s arrest, two assaults on women in Mission Hills were reported in a two-week span; the most recent took place on Sept. 9 near Lucha Libre in Middletown.

Days prior to Drake’s arrest, Council President Todd Gloria, who represents North Park on the City Council, held a press conference with police and community leaders to detail lighting improvements made to the darker areas of North Park.

Twenty streetlights in the area, mostly along the notoriously dim Lincoln Avenue, had been repaired, with three more soon to come. A few brand new streetlights have also been rushed into existence, and several older, incandescent streetlights were updated to LED. The North Park Recreation Center’s tennis court lighting will remain on throughout the night to brighten the area around Lincoln Avenue, where many of the assaults have been concentrated.

“I’m not sure we could replicate this in every part of the city,” Gloria said of the expeditious manner in which the lights were installed. “But the safety of my residents here require it, so we got it done.”

Shortly before the press conference, the North Park Community Association (NPCA) announced it would hold a second community forum to discuss ways to further increase safety in the area. The NPCA’s first community forum called for additional lighting in the area.

The meeting has been rescheduled to take place Sept. 29 at the North Park Lions Club. NPCA President Edwin Lohr said the need to increase safety in the area must continue regardless of whether or not this crime spree continues, although he admitted being exhausted by the last few months. Despite the flood of media attention on the crime spree, Lohr — who is active in multiple citizens’ patrols in the area — said the community has been reluctant to get involved, especially in joining North Park’s citizens’ patrol. He said at the community forum, 35 people signed up as potential patrollers, but only one followed through.

“That percentage is just horrible,” Lohr said, who was elected NPCA’s president shortly before the attacks began. “I’m working my butt off — we’re [the NPCA is] working our butts off — and we’re not seeing the fruits of our labor.”

While the citizens’ patrol hasn’t flourished in the way Lohr and others predicted, other organizations in the community are stepping up in other ways. Lohr said collaboration among volunteer groups is imperative if they want to keep making an impact.

North Park Main Street (NPMS), the neighborhood’s business improvement nonprofit, partnered with SDG&E and North Park business Evari GIS Consulting to identify broken streetlights in the neighborhood. NMPS Executive Director Angela Landsberg was also surprised by the quick lighting turnaround by the city.

“I don’t know how they worked that out; I’m grateful they did,” Landsberg said.

Bar Pink has been keeping extra staff around to walk women to their nearby cars and homes, said owner Dang Nguyen. He said the safety and lighting efforts are all “part of what we’ve been trying to create here in North Park, a walking village where people can access everything they want to or need to on foot.”

The Xtreme Justice League, a citizens’ patrol outfitted as superheroes, recently partnered with Krav Maga San Diego Academy to hold a self-defense workshop for North Park women on Sept. 10. Over 40 people, from SDSU students to elderly residents, received hands-on coaching for nearly three hours outside of North Park’s rec center.

Gloria’s staff also reaffirmed continuing efforts to improve North Park lighting and safety in lieu of Drake’s arrest. Spokesperson Katie Keach said Gloria’s office won’t stop efforts to increase lighting, finance community efforts and install security cameras at North Park’s Alba High School. Keach recommended that residents remain alert while walking the streets at night, and to avoid unlit streets, which she acknowledged is “hard to avoid in some areas of District 3, which is what we’re trying to improve with additional lighting and better awareness.”

Those interested in joining the North Park Citizens’ Patrol may contact Edwin Lohr at [email protected]. To report any further leads on criminal activity, call the San Diego Police Department’s non-emergency line at 619-531-2000 or Crime Stoppers at 619-580-8477.