Los Angeles homeowners have gone to war with authorities trying to tear down their private warning signs and security cameras – despite them deterring rampaging criminals.
Neighbors in Valley Glen in the San Fernando Valley put up 22 signs, infrared license plate readers and video recorders amid a spate of break-ins by South American gangs.
Debbie Stopeck told the California Post there were 26 incidents between November 2024 and April 2025 – but the wave suddenly stopped when they erected the equipment.
The 65-year-old retiree said: “We are taking back the streets. We are taking back the power. Last year, my neighbor’s teenage daughter was too scared to go to school because their home was broken into. Everything was stolen from them.
“Now we have kids who are happy to be outside and play on the streets. We went from a high level of crime in 2025 to zero once we got these cameras and warning signs installed.
“They are public safety signs telling bad actors that when you come into this neighborhood there are cameras and you’re being watched.
“The criminals need to know they’re under surveillance when they come into our neighborhood. The signs make them think twice.”
But nit-picking local officials with the LA Department of Transportation have told residents the signs installed on city utility poles break city codes and are illegal.
Stopeck told the Post that LA Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom ought to step in and help.
She said: “I would love to hear from Bass or Newsom, but I haven’t heard from anybody yet. I would tell them how I solved the problem.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
