Safety, maintenance from patrol ambassadors revitalize Westwood business, impressions
Daniel Kadomsky, an ambassador for Westwood’s Business Improvement District, cleans up the corner of Weyburn Avenue and Westwood Boulevard.
By Erin Donnelly
Sept. 23, 2012 8:50 a.m.
By the time the shops in Westwood Village open their doors for another day of business, Deandrea Dobson has already been patrolling the streets for two hours.
Before she greets the sun, Dobson weaves in and out of the streets to wake the homeless sleeping on the Village streets and cleans debris on the streets.
Clad in her uniform khaki pants and bright blue polo shirt, Dobson is one of 16 ambassadors that have been patrolling the streets of Westwood Village for more than a year to ensure its safety and cleanliness.
The ambassadors began working in Westwood about a year ago at the request of the Westwood Village Improvement Association, said Andrew Thomas, executive director for the organization.
The ambassadors are hired, trained and managed by a company called Block by Block that provides similar hospitality services in cities across the country. The ambassadors specialize in cleaning or safety, but unlike other security services, they are meant to be a friendly resource for the public ““ someone to recommend restaurants and give directions, said Scott Crandall, a spokesman for the company.
The Village has seen a noticeable improvement in its appearance and ability to attract customers since the ambassador program was established, Thomas said.
Before the business association was formed last year, graffiti and litter significantly hindered the appearance of the Village and the homeless population was not being properly addressed, Thomas said.
After the organization was formed, leaders immediately recognized the need for a type of security and maintenance staff in the Village, he added.
“I once was walking down the street when a receipt blew into me,” Thomas said. “When I picked it up, I saw that it was 4 years old.”
Up until a year ago, he said he noticed stickers from the 2008 presidential elections plastered around the Village.
Now the Village can boast that any piece of litter found on the ground is mere hours old because of the ambassadors’ quick cleanup service, he added.
“The best part of the job is working with all of the different people,” Dobson said.
Besides aesthetic appearance, the ambassadors are particularly noted among members of the local community for their work with the homeless population in Westwood.
Dobson remembers calling paramedics for one woman who was on the streets and needed surgery on her gallbladder.
“Now when she sees me, she comes up, saying “˜Thank you,'” Dobson said. “It’s a great feeling to hear that. She was in pain and needed help.”
Dobson and her co-workers also work with the local shop owners to help with minor disputes.
Norma Jean Mijangos, the owner of All About Keys on Gayley Avenue, said she once had three homeless people in and near her store on one day, and each time an ambassador arrived within minutes to speak with the people and ask them to move elsewhere.
“I would never take my kids … to Westwood with me at night ““ it didn’t seem safe,” Mijangos said. “But now (the Village is) so much safer than it was before.”
Some store owners, including Mijangos, have also noticed a marked increase in business since the ambassadors began cleaning up the area.
In surveys conducted by the Village Improvement Association both this summer and last summer, many business and building owners in Westwood said they saw a significant shift in their impressions of the Village.
A majority of those surveyed viewed the safety and cleanliness of the Village in a very positive light, as opposed to mostly negative reactions a year ago ““ a change that Thomas credits to the ambassador program.
Mijangos attributes their spike in business over the past year to the ambassadors’ efforts in making the Village safer, she said.
Although many business owners now view the Village as safer, it is hard to tell if the ambassadors actually help deter crime, said Nancy Greenstein, a spokeswoman for UCPD.
But the Village, which did not have a high crime rate to start with, does appear safer and the appearance of an area is also very important, Greenstein said.
“It’s the Broken Windows theory,” she said “If you see one broken window you think it’s OK to break some more. (The ambassadors) are changing that.”
