Los Angeles elites are using their wealth to fight back against the spike in violent crime that has gripped the city.
Bulletproof cars, safe rooms, barbed wire, and armed guards are some of the new essentials that residents from Beverly Hills to Pacific Palisades are utilizing to protect themselves and their property, home security experts say.
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“We even have one client in Brentwood that has security detail follow the kids to playdates and follow the housekeeper when she’s walking the pets,” said Bryan Peele, president of Estate Managers Coalition. He told the Hollywood Reporter that his clients now have armed guards pick them up at airports where their private jets land.
“They want someone who knows how to get them out of any situation,” he said.
California once had some of the nation’s toughest crime laws and sentencing guidelines. These have been whittled away for at least a decade to the point that thieves can often steal up to $950 in goods and receive the equivalent of a traffic ticket.
Far-left Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon fanned the situation by instilling policies that downgrade charges for felonies, including murder.
Critics say it has resulted in a 17% increase in homicides from last year as the city is on track to have its highest number in a decade. Robberies are up just 2%, but the number is actually much higher because a weary public has largely stopped reporting property theft because of a consensus that no one will be arrested, law enforcement officials have told the Washington Examiner.
Although crime became a reality this year with follow-home attacks on two celebrities and a brazen home robbery during a party, it came to a crest on Dec. 1 when philanthropist Jacqueline Avant was murdered in her Beverly Hills home.
“Almost immediately after the Avant shooting, it’s been crazy busy. We have increased operations in that area tremendously,” said Aaron Jones, CEO of International Protective Security. “I have a lot of regular VIPs; when people call, I get on the phone with them. We understand the urgency of what’s going on. It’s nonstop.”
Besides the added security guards, residents are employing extreme measures, such as stringing barbed wire along the perimeter of their properties and installing safe rooms that are hard-wired with phone and cable lines. The rooms are equipped to allow the occupants to live in them for a few days, Peele said.
Rising S Company has installed 13 safe rooms, nine safe doors, two underground bunker shelters, and two window fortifications in Brentwood Park, Beverly Park, and Paradise Cove, the Hollywood Reporter said. During the past few years, the company only installed seven safe rooms throughout the state.
Peele said he also has clients who bought three bulletproof cars in the last couple of months and fake Rolex watches that cost $2,000 instead of $200,000 for the real thing.
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“For their own personal protection, people are having a different discussion about what they’re wearing out these days in terms of jewelry and watches,” entertainment business manager John McIlwee told the Hollywood Reporter. “I can’t control crime, but I can try to mitigate someone’s exposure to physical harm. And anyone who is having a holiday party is hiring private security — I mean, that sounds like Brazil!”
