Harbor Division Police Get a Sense of Community : Law enforcement: The daylong session for new officers may become a model for the Los Angeles Police Department’s 17 other areas.

For years, Wilmington community activist Eleanor Montano has seen them come and go--the baby faces fresh out of the Police Academy, the vets who have worked the harbor area for years, the transfers from other stations.

Generally, they have been a fine group of officers, she said. Sure, some were malcontents or troublemakers sent by the Los Angeles Police Department to the remote Harbor Division for what used to be call “freeway therapy.” But by and large, Harbor Division has had good cops, she said.

One thing has been missing, though, Montano said. It was the proper attitude, gleaned from knowledge about the harbor area, its people and its problems. That, however, is changing, she said.

“Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had plenty of good officers over the years,” said Montano, a Wilmington resident since 1941. “But now, the officers smile at people. They’re our friends now. There’s a more relaxed atmosphere.”

One reason, according to Montano, is Capt. Joe DeLadurantey, the harbor division’s commanding officer. And just as important, Montano said, is DeLadurantey’s orientation program that all of the division’s new officers must attend, regardless of their experience.

The daylong orientation has been in place at the Harbor Division since DeLadurantey’s arrival a year ago. And its success has caught the eye of the Los Angeles Police Commission, which may suggest that Chief Daryl F. Gates recommend the program as a model for the department’s 17 other divisions, only a few of which conduct similar sessions.

“We’re looking at it now to find out more about it, how well it’s doing and whether something similar could be implemented in other places,” said Richard Dameron, the commission’s executive officer.

Offered about once every two months, the orientation in some ways is no different than those already given at many other LAPD divisions. There is a briefing by the brass on the “do’s and don’ts” in the division. New officers are told a bit about the local communities. And one of the locals--often a businessman or bureaucrat--is brought in to welcome the officers.

But DeLadurantey’s program goes well beyond the others. The officers are not just told about the community, they tour it for hours. They do not just get a map, they get a 94-page briefing book that details each community’s history, community services, schools and gang hot spots.

And perhaps most important, the new officers do not just hear from the official greeters, they meet with community activists who are often plain-spoken about what they expect from local police.

“If you go to Wilmington and Harbor City, you might find out they need a lot of help . . . and you can help with a positive attitude,” the officers were told recently by Abelardo de la Pena, director of the Mahar House, a longtime community organization in Wilmington that provides an array of social services.

That sort of advice, not just sugar-coated welcomes, is common during the orientations.

Just ask Eleanor Montano.

“When I talk to the new officers, my main message to them is to stay above the law. I tell them that if they treat people with respect, they will be respected,” said Montano, whose activities include chairing the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations.

“I want them to know I’m not the enemy,” she said. “I want them to know there are plenty of good addresses in this community, more good addresses than there are bad ones.”

It is a message that is important and repeated throughout the orientations. And it is one that officers need to hear, Montano said.

“Sometimes accidents or problems happen from misunderstandings. If an officer has never been in a community or with certain cultures, they might not be as sensitive,” she said.

She added, “A lot of people forget that law-enforcement officers are people too.

The orientation program “can make things safer for the community and the police,” she said. “To me, it’s like washing your car without waxing it. This program gives the officers that final polish, that special thing that helps them and the local community.”

That, DeLadurantey said, is what the orientation is all about.

“This program is a quick way to immerse the officers in their community so they can learn in one day what it might take six months to learn under normal circumstances,” said DeLadurantey, who patterned the orientation after one he received during his earliest days as an LAPD officer 25 years ago.

“My first captain, Tom King, used to do this at the 77th Division, and I vowed if I ever had an opportunity, I would do the same thing,” said DeLadurantey, who instituted the orientation 10 years ago at LAPD’s Wilshire Division, and then at the Hollenbeck Division.

“What I liked about it from the start was that it got my head oriented right, it helped me to understand what the job is all about,” he said. “You can talk all about service, but you really need to see it in action. And when you see the lead officers talking about the division, and talk with the people in the community, you know what it’s all about.”

Many officers at an orientation last month agreed.

“It’s helpful,” said Sgt. Rick Dedmon, a 16-year LAPD veteran who worked at four other divisions before recently coming to the harbor. “I’ve been to other orientations, but this is one of the better ones. Granted, there are some cops who might think they don’t need this, but you can’t go in with that kind of attitude.

“I’ve been a policeman for 16 years, and I learn something new every day.”

Added Officer Olivia Joya, 22, who joined the department two weeks ago: “I was pretty much raised in the area and I still learned things (from the orientation).”

As an example, Joya said that, until the orientation, she did not know how many community organizations were available for referrals by police. “I had no idea there were so many groups, with so many people, helping out the community,” she said.

Joya also said her conversations with community leaders and residents provided her with a better understanding of the area. “It helps talking, just to find out what their likes and dislikes are,” she said.

One of those who talked recently with the new officers was Elizabeth Taylor of the Community Reclamation Project, a Lomita-based anti-gang and drug prevention program funded by the U.S. Justice Department.

“It’s a marvelous program, a good way of indoctrinating those who come to the area on what’s out there. . . . It’s very helpful because it gives them a foundation on which to build upon in understanding the area,” Taylor said after the orientation.

One measure of the program’s success, DeLadurantey said, is the interest expressed by community leaders about participating. “They’re on a waiting list right now,” he said. “We’re trying to rotate the appearances so we don’t slight anyone.”

But even if there were no waiting list, DeLadurantey said, he would consider the program a success because it forces the officers to quickly focus on the job ahead.

“This community is different, and I’d like you to treat it that way,” DeLadurantey told the officers at the start of the last orientation.

San Pedro, he told them, is a community in transition, a seaside melting pot finally discovered by developers and growing more crowded every day. So are Wilmington and Harbor City, he said. But Wilmington and Harbor City have different problems than San Pedro, among them ongoing and deadly battles between gangs.

“I’d like you to patrol the communities the way you would if your mother lived there,” DeLadurantey told the officers.

“I realize we’re going to put a lot on you,” he added. “But we’re not asking you to solve the problems that may be longstanding in these communities. I just want you to be aware of them.”