Letter to City Councilwoman & LAPD: Pedestrian Checkpoints Needed

The following May 2 letter was sent to City Councilwoman Traci Park, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell, and other representatives of the LAPD by members of the Pacific Palisades Community Council.

Re: Community Concerns about LAPD checkpoints in Pacific Palisades

Since April 17, 2025, the bike path at West Channel North to Malibu has been opened to the public walking and riding bicycles. This situation now allows non-residents to enter all checkpoint areas without showing any proof of residency. Currently, The National Guard and LAPD are only checking vehicles for proof of entry, allowing non- residents and other unauthorized individuals to walk or bike into the Palisades burn areas without showing proof of entry.

The community is concerned. We are seeing more unhoused individuals coming into the area with luggage and shopping carts, looking for places to sleep. These individuals are allowed to enter past the checkpoints located at Amalfi, Brooktree, Chautauqua and Sunset Blvd at Pacific Coast Highway. We are asking now for our LAPD partners to install manned checkpoints for proof of residency for folks entering major entry points, for their own as well as the community’s safety.

As you know, the entire community is in the designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Palisades volunteers and partners spent three years clearing over two hundred embedded encampments in the Palisades hillsides, before the recent Palisades fire. Almost all of the restricted entry signs in our hillsides were burnt in the catastrophic fire, leaving the hillsides vulnerable to repopulation. This situation poses serious safety risks and fire concerns for our residents and for unhoused individuals looking for a place to camp, as well as concerns related to theft, burglary, trespassing and squatting.

Palisadians’ concerns are grounded in experience: just a few days ago, a shirtless individual (apparently a non- resident) bypassed a checkpoint, climbed a hillside, jumped fences and illegally entered into the backyards of homes in the Santa Monica Canyon area, shocking residents. The individual wasn’t apprehended and residents were told simply to call 911.

Our community has been traumatized by the Palisades fire. Residents and businesses are trying to repopulate in a safe environment. We cannot allow folks into the area who want to camp in our unsafe hillsides, trespass or commit other crimes, and pose a threat of fire or other public safety threats to the community that has already suffered enough.

We now request that LAPD officers at the Palisades checkpoints stop all folks walking or bicycling in, to make sure they are residents and have clearance to be allowed past the current checkpoints. We also request that LAPD officers have access to FLOCK camera footage that is currently in place in the Pacific Palisades community.

Thank you for your service and for your anticipated prompt attention to these requests.

Sincerely,

Sue Kohl, PPCC President

Chris Spitz, PPCC At-large Representative

Sharon Kilbride, PPCC Area 7 Representative (and PPTFH liaison with LAPD)