Foothill Station Seeks to Mend Fences : Police: Officers hold open house in effort to repair their image. The men involved in the Rodney King beating were assigned to the facility.

Los Angeles police set out the coffee and cookies Tuesday evening and, with warm smiles, opened the doors of the Foothill Station in Pacoima to area residents in an effort to repair the division’s battered image in the wake of the Rodney G. King beating.

The forum was the first in a series of open houses that Deputy Police Chief Mark Kroeker--the new San Fernando Valley-area commander--has ordered for every station in his jurisdiction.

The meetings are designed to familiarize citizens with police proceedings, the stations and officers so community members will feel that they have access to police officials and feel comfortable complaining if they are dissatisfied with service.

The King incident, which was videotaped and broadcast nationwide, was referred to only briefly at Tuesday’s meeting, although clearly it was on the minds of the officers who presided and the more than 30 people who attended.

“I am determined that something good is going to come out of this,” Capt. Tim McBride, the station commander, told the gathering. “That is a very difficult situation when we have seen that tape over again and again and again and again, but we are going to grow and we are going to be better.”

But it was unclear whether the forums will have the desired affect.

Christena Hughes of Lake View Terrace brought her 10-year-old twin sons so they would “understand that there is a proper way to act when you are stopped by the police. If you don’t act the way they want you--which is extremely submissive--they will beat the hell out of you.”

For nearly an hour and a half, in the station’s roll call room, a parade of officers spoke about various department anti-crime initiatives, community cleanup efforts and youth programs. Captain John Mutz, who moderated the forum, reiterated over and over again that citizens with gripes against officers should always voice their complaints, which he said are taken seriously.

King’s brother called the Foothill Station to report what he considered misconduct, but he was told not to bother unless he had a videotape or other evidence.

“I want you to be satisfied when you call us,” Mutz said. “This program is for you to understand more about us. . . . We are your servants.”

Russ Settell of Sylmar, an Amtrak official, praised the attempt to make officers more accessible. But he said that police credibility has been undermined by some officers’ refusal to cooperate with the FBI’s investigation of the King beating.

“I feel like the officers have something to hide,” he said. “If they have nothing to hide, they should be open and receptive and welcome the investigation.”

Dorothy Barnett, a 40-year Arleta resident and retired elementary school teacher, lamented that the division’s many positive achievements were being overshadowed by the racism allegations. But despite that, she said, she is grateful that the beating of King, a black man, has drawn attention to the police.

“I think they have been getting away with this kind of thing for too long,” she said. “Thank God somebody took a video.”