Home News Community Meet Your Neighborhood Prosecutor Mehrnoosh Zahiri

Meet Your Neighborhood Prosecutor Mehrnoosh Zahiri

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Category: Community News
Published on Thursday, 04 December 2014 16:46
Written by Chelsee Lowe
In July, Los Angeles native Mehrnoosh Zahiri began her work as the Wilshire Division’s neighborhood prosecutor, a position that is part of the citywide Neighborhood Prosecutors Program (NPP), overseen by the City Attorney’s Office. According to its mission statement, the NPP aims to “identify, prioritize, and address criminal problems before… [they] lead to urban decay in our communities.” 

Zahiri and her counterparts are integral to that mission, and they spend their days in the communities they serve rather than in remote offices where they’d likely be disconnected from local issues. Each one acts as a community liason, responsible for addressing concerns voiced by residents within their jurisdiction. Zahiri represents community members within the Wilshire Division’s territory, which is roughly bounded by the Santa Monica Freeway, La Cienega Boulevard to the west, Arlington Avenue to the east and Willoughby Avenue to the north. Zahiri spoke with The Neighborhood News about her past work, as well as how she can help improve our area.

formagweb3TNN: Let’s begin with your professional history. What kind of work were you doing prior to becoming our neighborhood prosecutor?

MZ: After I went to undergrad at UCLA, I attended Southwestern Law School [on Wilshire near Vermont]. During my law school years, I actually worked for the City Attorney’s Office in the Criminal Central Trials Branch. When I graduated, the city was in a hiring freeze, so I found the next closest job — I worked for a private firm that was contracted out by numerous L.A. County cities, from Beverly Hills and West Hollywood to Huntington Park and South Gate.

The issues I dealt were criminal and quality-of-life issues, including municipal code issues. I was there for about six years, and it is great to bring that experience to the table here. 

Can you elaborate on the kinds of problems residents have shared during your first few months on the job?

MZ: I think the Wilshire Division’s area is among the most diverse in the city, and the issues really range, from trespassing charges to property maintenance violations and graffiti issues. I’ve heard complaints regarding gasoline-powered leaf blowers, I’ve looked into our rise in burglaries — I’ve even worked with the burglary detectives, though that’s a little outside of my realm.

As a resident, you may be facing issues that are bothersome to you and important to you — not everyone has the same problems to bring up. If it’s a big quality-of-life issue facing the community, that’s something I’m going to try to figure out.

Is there anyone else helping you?

MZ: I work very closely with our Senior Lead officers, who have a great grasp of the community’s concerns. They’ve given me summaries of those issues. 

How do you see the neighborhood prosecutor position helping local residents? Why do we need it?

MZ: Based on my experience so far, it’s much easier for the community’s concerns to be heard when there’s a representative within that community available. When I hear about a problem, I’m not hearing it from a report made by an officer I don’t know or that’s somehow made its way to my desk. I’m here at the station, I can tell the officer to take me to the issue, I can see the magnitude of it.

Additionally, a crime may not seem like a big deal once it makes its way up the channels. However, if I know that this issue is important to the community, I can give it the attention and care it needs. Before this, a problem could easily get lost. So having someone that knows the area well is important.

How do people reach out to you to share a concern?

MZ: I tell everyone: email me. Tell me what’s going on, and if it’s something I can help with, I most certainly will. What exactly I can do may vary. It might be getting Building and Safety to go out and conduct an inspection; it might be to file a criminal complaint; it might be to meet with the problem business or property owner to get them to understand why they need to comply with the law.

This could lead to a lot of emails. Do you imagine there will come a time when you have too many problems on your plate?

MZ: At this point, there have been enough hours in the day to address the concerns I’ve heard, though results take longer than I expected, because of the size of the city and the limited resources available. But solutions do come.

Eventually, I will have to prioritize, yes. But that doesn’t mean that concerns will be put on the back burner. If it’s something that another department should and can be dealing with, I will get them involved. A lot of times people come to me with concerns, for example, that are clearly a department of transportation issue – something that I’m not permitted to overstep – so I definitely redirect them. If an issue is something that clearly needs my attention, I will look at it, especially if it’s one that I’ve heard about from multiple residents. 

Residents can email Zahari at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to voice a local concern, or call 213-978-2220. For more information on the NPP, visit http://atty.lacity.org/CRIMINAL/NeighborhoodProsecutorProgram.

Photo by Dawn Kirkpatrick

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Established in August of 2008 by writer, artist Dianne V. Lawrence, The Neighborhood News covers the events, people, history, politics and historic architecture of communities throughout the Mid-City and West Adams area in Los Angeles Council District 10.

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