Crime in Montecito and Insurance Rates post-L.A. Fires
The Montecito Association February 2025 meeting was held in person at the Montecito Library community room and on Zoom, Tuesday, February 11.
Leslie Lundgren, 1st VP MA, called the meeting to order and moderated the presentations. Present were MA Executive Director Houghton Hyatt and the full MA board.
The top agenda item was the crime presentation by SB County Sheriff Lt. Rich Brittingham with SBC Sheriff’s Special Crime Division Detective Anthony Nunez and Sgt. Neil Gowing. They showed the data on the growing crime scene driven by organized gangs from Chile, Venezuela and other South American countries.
Nunez provided data points with a slide show on the gangs. Cogent points he stated were: “The burglaries are complex cases of organized crime by these gangs that come into the U.S. and station in Los Angeles, then go to New York and other cities. They are called the South American Theft Groups, aka SATG, who target U.S. residents’ homes. They have both men and women on the team, usually three to four total. While the men are observing the houses they are planning to burglarize, the women are at CVS taking people’s credit card numbers, copying your car key fob to rob the car and contents, including cell phones. The homes they prefer to rob are those of affluent celebrities and athletes. They conduct surveillance prior to the robbery to figure out your pattern of being home and being away, they place cameras on the properties they are targeting, and generally they want no one at home. They are highly skilled and are in and out in three minutes targeting primary bedroom’s safe boxes and jewelry. They use signal jammers to stop your alarms, cell phones and home video surveillance. They sell the stolen items back in their country of origin. After we do arrest a gang, things quiet down for a few weeks and then they are back.”
To find and arrest the criminals, Nunez explained, “The SBC Sheriff’s Department uses the Flock System network of cameras, which was given to us on a trial basis for two years with 25 cameras, of which three cameras are in Montecito – two at Birnam Wood and one at Montecito Union School. The trial period is up and we need to keep the Flock service agreement, and will speak to the SBC Board of Supervisors.”
For Montecito residents, Nunez advised:
– Purchase license plate readers (LPR) and install surveillance cameras on your property. If you own the camera and pay for the yearly subscription, it’s around $2,000, and you can then give the data to the Sheriff’s Office.
– Two key Montecito areas that should have camera surveillance are at Jameson Lane and Sheffield Road intersections. All the main in and out roads to Montecito should have these cameras.
– Hope Ranch has the cameras and shares their data with the Sheriff’s Department.
– Add security lighting systems, motion sensor lights, leave tv/lights on.
– Secure doors and windows, and store valuables in heavy well-constructed safes, or a security deposit box.
– Get to know your neighbors and have them call the Sheriff’s office if they notice anything suspicious.
Two action steps requested by the Montecito residents attending were:
– To have the SBC Sheriff’s Department do LE Training and start a Neighborhood Watch
– To provide Montecito with a list of the exact areas these cameras need to be placed.
Brittingham said he would act on both requests.
The second agenda item was an insurance info session with Kelly Weiser, of Weiser Insurance with her team. She presented a timeline on insurance rates and cancellations, the drivers of the rates, and suggestions for Montecito residents and businesses. Strategic points she made were: “The recent fires in L.A. have resulted in an estimated $30 billion or more in insurance claims. As a result, some insurance carriers have issued moratoriums in California as a whole. Remaining carriers are reevaluating what it takes to continue to operate in the state. In Montecito, residential owners are now being listed as high fire areas, and some people are being canceled, which has little to do with your home value, the amount of fire protection you have done, or the location. The rates went up or were cancelled in 2022 after the ban was lifted. The California Fair Plan is funded by the traditional insurance carriers in the state, and likely pass that cost onto their customers.”
Her advice:
– Be proactive in shopping your renewals.
– Regularly reevaluate your rebuild values.
– Consider layering policies if your rebuild value is above $3 million.
– Avoid filing small claims which stay on your record for 5 years.
– Request a Letter of Experience from your carrier to find out all claims filed on your property.
– If investment property is owned through a Trust or LLC, consider insuring it as a commercial property for access to higher levels of coverage.
– Strengthen your property’s defense with fire-resistant roofing, alarm systems, etc. in order to renew your policy. As of now the carriers are not giving rate discounts for those preventative actions.
– Know the difference between a formal indication and a policy.
Aida Thau staff from SBC 1st District Supervisor Roy Lee’s office, Aida reported that their priority is, “…the Hot Springs Trail and fire safety there, so we closed the gate. We had the stakeholders meeting and decided to start a pilot program, Phase One, on fire safety – to be presented to the SBC Board of Supervisors on March 4. If approved there will be signage and enforcement by the Sheriff’s Office and the Fire Dept.”
Montecito Union School District Superintendent Anthony Ranii (MUS)reported they have enrolled 40 new students from 28 families; 36 students expected to be long term through the end of the school year; and most are first graders. MUS has upgraded its safety procedures and security with AI, video monitoring and securing ground floor windows.
There will be a MUS and SBC Fire Fighters Local 2046 Community BBQ on February 22, 11:30 am – 1 pm at MUS, so all the families from the L.A. fires in the area can come together and meet with the local community.
Due to space limitations here, reports from the Executive Director and committees can be found in the MA minutes on their webpage.
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