In April, I wrote abut the Integrated Crime Center proposed by Brea Police Chief Adam Hawley, who said it would be “a complex, multi-faceted system.”
The ICC will include hi-tech cameras, drones, license plate readers, other equipment and additional personnel. It is for combating organized retail crime, cargo theft and vehicle accessory theft. The original cost estimate was nearly $5 million, and was projected as a five-year project. Federal and state grants were sought to fund it.
Well, a big one came through. The Brea Police Department was awarded a Prevention Grant Award of nearly $6 million from the California Board of State and Community Corrections. Hawley explained at a recent City Council meeting that Brea was one of only five agencies in Orange County that received the grant. And due to the grant’s additional funding and its terms, the ICC is now a three-year project.
The City Council approved the grant at their Oct. 17 meeting and the ball is rolling. Hawley and staff have begun the acquisition process.
“We anticipate that our first purchases will be brought before the City Council in December or January,” said Hawley.
And they are now recruiting for key positions for the ICC, including an IT specialist, crime analyst and later drone operators. The ICC will be a state-of-the-art, very high-tech means to fight crime and to keep us all safer.
In the meantime, we still have the 57 Freeway/Lambert Road mess to deal with. This weekend, Lambert Road from State College Boulevard to Point Drive will be closed off, as well as the 57 Freeway’s Lambert Road on and off ramps. The closures will run from 10 p.m. Nov. 17 to 5 p.m. Nov. 19 for repaving of Lambert Road under the freeway.
Sheilah Fortenberry, Caltrans’ District 12 information officer, explained that the repaving work must be done during the day due to weather temperature, but if it rains the project will be postponed until after Thanksgiving Day.
Instead of fretting about the Lambert Road closures, come shopping at Brea’s Nutcracker Boutique from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Nov. 17 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 18 at the Brea Community Center on Madison Way. Admission is only $3.
For 29 years, the Nutcracker Boutique has been the place to find unique crafts and holiday gifts for all ages, plus earrings to die for, believe me. According to Kristin Steyerman, community services supervisor, there will be 290 vendors this year.
Additional free parking will be available at the Crosspointe Church, 217 E. Birch St. Park in the church’s parking lot and the Brea Trolley will take you to and from the Nutcracker Boutique, and for free.
But if shopping for cool stuff isn’t your thing, maybe genealogy is. Also on Nov. 18 is a free genealogy workshop at 3 p.m. at the Brea Museum on Brea Boulevard, at City Hall Park. It’s a good time to find famous or infamous relatives hiding in your family tree.
To reserve a spot or if you have questions, call 714-256-2283 or via email at info@breamuseum.org. Museum Director-Curator Linda Shay said to bring your laptop. Happy hunting.
Terri Daxon is a freelance writer and the owner of Daxon Marketing Communications. She gives her perspective on Brea issues twice a month. Contact her at daxoncomm@gmail.com.
