Supervisor Hahn gives $50K for gates at Downey Cemetery

City workers respond to a toppled headstone at Downey Cemetery last January. Photo by Alex Dominguez

DOWNEY – L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn has committed $50,000 of her discretionary dollars to help install gates and security lights at Downey Cemetery, the historic graveyard prone to vandalism and desecration. 

The cemetery was most recently vandalized in January, when more than two dozen headstones were toppled, causing approximately $2,500 in damage. 

Vandals also struck the cemetery last September, tipping over 25 headstones. 

Downey will use the $50,000 to install gates at the cemetery’s two entrances, along with security lighting. There are also future plans to replace a block wall with new fencing.

The funds should be distributed within the coming weeks, a representative from Hahn's office said. 

Downey Cemetery opened in 1868 and is the final resting place for several Downey pioneers, as well as veterans of the 1846 Mexican-American War.