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A Los Angeles Police Department officer writes a ticket for double parking across from the Mann B

With Westwood jewelry stores falling victim to recent crimes, concerns about safety in the Village have arisen among local business owners.

According to university police crime logs, Michael K. Jewelers on Broxton Avenue was robbed on June 9.

Police reports also state that the suspect was last seen at an alley east of Gayley Avenue as he fled the scene. He was said to have been driving either a black Lexus or blue Toyota, and was described by one witness as a juvenile wearing a red hat and black shirt.

Though a person was detained at the Westwood Whole Foods Market, he did not turn out to be the suspect.

In a separate incident, Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers was allegedly burglarized in what was described as a “grab and run,” with no threat of entry. According to owner Jeffrey Abell, the crime occurred when a young man who was looking at items “jumped up and ran” with the items.

He added that he did not think the burglary was due to a lack of police protection. Abell explained that security procedures already put in place at his store were not being followed when the crime occurred, and that if they had been followed more strictly the crime would not have occurred.

“I think we had a lapse in our security that allowed this one, and it’s been taken care of and it’s not going to happen again,” he said.

He said that during the 57 years that his business has been in Westwood, it has only been burglarized once or twice before this incident.

Reports from multiple sources implicate another recent robbery that occurred at Morgan & Co. Jewellers, but these reports are unconfirmed.

According to Nancy Greenstein, director of police community services, UCPD has scaled down its patrol in the past few months so that resources could be directed toward campus needs.

She also said UCPD would still respond to calls, but that the West Los Angeles Division of the Los Angeles Police Department is now the primary source and should be called first.

Officer Nathan Ewert of the WLAPD believes the transition is beneficial. He said there are crimes which the UCPD is not equipped to handle and WLAPD has taken over a lot of its cases out of courtesy.

Though the scaling back of UCPD in the Westwood area might leave local businesses feeling more susceptible to crime, WLAPD is compensating for the loss of UCPD patrol by bringing more of its officers to the area.

Abell, one of the business owners who started the Westwood Village Business Watch in January, said he was more concerned that the Village has adequate coverage than which department takes responsibility for it.

“I don’t care who covers it as long as it gets covered,” he said.

This Wednesday, Westwood Village Business Watch members will have a meeting held at Jerry’s Famous Deli, hosted by the WLAPD.

The objectives of the meeting, according to West L.A. Online’s Web site, are to discuss the enforcement of transient issues and answer the questions and concerns of local merchants and property owners.

The WLAPD will also use the meeting to introduce new LAPD Westwood Village foot patrol officers that will begin covering the local area.

As of now, the area is covered by WLAPD bike patrol officers.

Abell, who calls patrolmen “a big piece of protection for us,” believes the addition of more foot patrol officers in the Westwood area will help deter crime by keeping criminals out of the area.