The Beverly Hills Health and Safety Commission received updates about student health concerns, citywide crime and the upcoming evacuation drill during its Oct. 27 meeting.
Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) Board President Rachelle Marcus and Board Member Russell Stuart addressed the commission on health matters concerning district students. Stuart said that the board received numerous complaints from parents regarding dust and dirt plumes emanating from construction of the One Beverly Hills project across the street onto the campus of El Rodeo Elementary School. In response, property developer Cain International met with board members and installed air quality detectors across the construction site and assured the board that the plumes were not harmful. The developers measure the air quality every five minutes and will notify board members if it reaches a certain threshold, Stuart said, adding that the site will need to be continuously monitored.
Stuart said the district’s new vape and smoke detectors have been effective. He did not give specific details on the number of students detected or the disciplinary consequences involved, but said the results were significant.
Stuart also highlighted technology initiatives, including the implementation of artificial intelligence within the district. BHUSD recently purchased two Apple Vision Pro AI headset devices, which have aided students in different subjects—such as science, media, athletics and robotics.
Commissioner Erica Felsenthal brought up concerns about implementing AI in education without conclusive research on how AI affects brain development and about possibly needing consent from students when it comes to using physical AI headsets. However, Stuart said the importance of getting up to date with the technology outweighed the potential costs.
“Where it can take someone’s mind and say, ‘I’m going to give you the greatest education that you’ll never get unless we put this headset on you,’ I think not exploring it would be a detriment to [what] our kids can learn,” he said.
BHPD Lt. Kevin Orth reported on August and September crime statistics, including previous year comparisons. Every type of crime in Beverly Hills decreased or stayed the same from 2024-25 except for aggravated assaults and major vehicle thefts, which saw a 17% and 2% increase, respectively. Fifty-four robberies were reported in Beverly Hills up until Oct. 19, 2024 while only 30 have been reported so far in 2025. The city also saw a decrease from 738 larceny thefts to 566 during the same time span. Orth attributed the decrease in crime to the BHPD’s Real Time Watch Center, a hub of the city’s surveillance tools established in 2022. He also said that neighboring cities are not experiencing similar decreases in crime.
“Overall, our crime has been decreasing steadily,” he said. “Our arrest numbers are still increasing, which indicates that we have officers making proactive self-initiated activity … We’re a couple years into our Real Time Watch Center. All of our cameras, [automated license plate reader] systems, drone systems, all those have led to a decrease in crime in the last several years.”
Orth added that police officers, traffic control officers and private security will be on the scene on Walden Drive and Carmelita Avenue and that officers may shut down the streets depending on the amount of foot traffic. Orth also reminded the community that the city prohibits the use of silly string and shaving cream during Halloween hours.
Beverly Hills Fire Department Deputy Chief Alfred Poirier provided an incident comparison from September of 2024 and 2025. Poirier said that incident numbers have generally remained consistent across years, though emergency medical service calls decreased from 461 to 380.
Another important matter on the agenda concerned the Nov. 9 evacuation drill in the Trousdale neighborhood directed at 68 homes in a high fire severity zone. Residents north of Sunset Boulevard are encouraged to evacuate to Will Rogers Park via designated routes and are urged to prepare to-go bags. The drill will take place from 1-4 p.m. and police, city and fire officials will be stationed throughout the area to assist and direct traffic. Participation in the drill is encouraged by the city but not mandatory.
BHFD Fire Marshall Trevor Richmond shared two videos with the commission—from the Oakland Firestorm in 1991 and from the Palisades fire in 2025—which displayed the total chaos and danger during both evacuations and illustrated the urgent need to prepare for potential fire evacuations. Tens of thousands of people in L.A. County were under evacuation orders during the January wildfires.
“The only way to prepare for chaos is to train,” Richmond said. “The purpose of the drill—we want to be disaster ready. We want to increase community awareness through public education. We really want to exercise the operational component between the Beverly Hills Fire Department and Beverly Hills Police Department.”
Richmond added that another main goal of the drill is to improve communication between officials and residents. Residents can receive alerts through the city’s outdoor warning system and digitally through Nixle and BHPD Alert. Evacuation routes and details on what to pack in the case of an evacuation can be found on the city’s website. The “6 P’s” is a helpful way to remember what to pack—people and pets, prescriptions, papers, pictures, personal computers and money in the form of plastic or cash.
Richmond added that he will return to the commission later with a report on the efficacy of the drill.
