Williams Hails Role of Reservists : LAPD: He tells Police Academy graduates that their volunteer program is a keystone of community policing.

Donning his regulation blue uniform for the first time in public, Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams on Wednesday night presented diplomas to 53 new reserve officers.

The new volunteer officers, a diverse group that includes a priest, a lawyer and a receptionist, will join the ranks of about 900 in the current reserve force.

“It means counting for something,” said class President Monica Kelley, 23, a Canoga Park receptionist.

Reserve officers do everything from office work to serving as the second officer in a patrol car. Their pay is $15 a month and their work would have cost the department $4.2 million last year if full-time officers had performed it, officials said.

“You can’t get a better buy than that,” Williams said.

Cost-effectiveness is but one part of the reserves’ appeal, the chief said. Williams praised the reserve program as exemplifying the spirit of community policing.

In the wake of the riots, community policing is the byword for improving relations between members of the community and the department.

“The reserve program is probably the keystone of what community policing is all about,” Williams said.

Williams has been the chief of police since June, replacing former Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, who left office amid widespread criticism of the department’s handling of the violence that followed the Rodney G. King beating trial verdicts.

During his speech, Williams did not mention that this was the first time he presided over a graduating class at the Police Academy.

Afterward, as graduates clamored to pose for a picture with Williams, he said, “I’m looking forward to many, many classes of reserve and regular officers in the years to come.”

Police Commissioner Anthony de los Reyes also welcomed the reserve officers, whose training was suspended during the riots, but who put in extra time so they could graduate on schedule.

“From priest to postal worker, from deputy district attorney to student, you are the community,” De los Reyes said. “You can and will be the embodiment of community-based policing.”

The new reserve officers said they volunteered because they wanted to serve the community and help the police keep the streets safe.

“My children are growing up with so much crime around,” said Reserve Officer Alberta DeLeon, 46, a Hawaiian Gardens purchasing agent. “I had to help keep crime away from my family.

Surrounded by her family after the ceremony, DeLeon said she is ready to support the police. “If they need a day off, I’ll be right there,” she said.