Police Panel Member Doubts That Study Will Alter Number of Officers in Valley

An upcoming study of the formula by which Los Angeles police officers are deployed probably will not change the number of officers assigned to the San Fernando Valley, Police Commission member Bert Boeckmann predicted Monday.

The study was ordered by the Los Angeles Police Commission in response to complaints that the current formula favors relatively affluent areas such as the Valley.

In an interview following a speech to the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., Boeckmann, the lone Valley resident on the five-member commission, said his best guess is that the Valley’s percentage of the department’s 7,000 officers would not change significantly.

Department spokesman Lt. Dan Cooke said that 1,334 uniformed officers, 19% of those in the department, are assigned to the Valley.

Responded With Alarm

Valley leaders, noting that the area has more than 40% of the city’s population, have responded with alarm to attempts by groups from South-Central and downtown Los Angeles to press for the transfer of officers from the Valley to those areas, which have higher violent crime rates.

In October, the commission ordered that the value of stolen property be removed as a factor in calculating how police are deployed, a change that led to a loss of nine officers assigned to the Valley.

In the shift, five officers were taken from Van Nuys Division, four from the West Valley Division and one from the Devonshire Division, while the Foothill Division gained one officer.

Boeckmann said the transfers “set off a lot of rumors about additional changes that would cost the Valley more officers.”

The study will be put out for bids July 8 and is expected to be completed in about a year.

Calls Formula ‘Fair’

The commissioner said he based his prediction of little or no change on his observation that the current formula “is just about as fair as it can get.”

Police now are deployed according to a formula that takes into account each area’s size, population and frequency of crime.

Deputy Chief Dan Sullivan, who heads LAPD operations in the Valley, was out of town and unavailable for comment Monday.

Sullivan vigorously protested the transfer of officers from the Valley last October, but to no avail.

Capt. Art. Sjoquist, commander of the Van Nuys Division, said he would be surprised if the study recommended any change in the department’s deployment formula.

Doesn’t See ‘Better Way’

“The way we do it now is pretty rational, and takes into account a lot of key factors,” Sjoquist said. “I haven’t seen anything to indicate there is a better way to do it.”

Boeckmann also said that, following overwhelming voter rejection June 4 of a property tax increase to provide funds to hire 1,000 more police, he sees little likelihood of significant increases in the number of officers soon.