Williams Unveils Plan on Community Policing for L.A. : Grants: Chief seeks funding for ‘new beginning’ with citizens’ input, officers’ retraining.

Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams unveiled the first step of a citywide community policing plan Tuesday that he said would be a “new beginning” for public confidence in his department by creating citizen advisory councils, shifting basic police attitudes and retraining key officers.

Williams’ proposal, which was submitted to the Police Commission as a request for permission to apply for a grant, also seeks to hire a consultant who was one of Williams’ community police advisers in Philadelphia, and calls for the development of a long-term strategy for policing the city.

“This proposal seeks to institute a ‘new beginning’ to build public safety confidence between the people of Los Angeles and their Police Department,” the proposal says. “Through the office of the chief of police, programs to address and rebuild community and police confidence in public safety services will be designed, implemented and evaluated.

“Such an effort will no doubt take several years to complete as it will require change to the organizational culture of the LAPD as well as the external climate of police and community relations.”

Police commissioners approved the proposal to seek a $379,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice to implement training and other aspects of the plan. It will go to the City Council and Mayor Tom Bradley for final approval. Williams said the institute has already tentatively approved the grant and is awaiting the city’s approval before distributing the money.

Commission President Jesse A. Brewer said the grant will allow the Police Department to begin the citywide community policing program quickly by avoiding having to come up with seed money from the budget-strapped department.

“Right now the city doesn’t have the money and this is a way to get it,” Brewer said. “It’s important to get this started.”

Williams stressed that the proposal was just a start and that full implementation of community policing would not be possible under the department’s existing staffing.

“This is the first step toward fully implementing community policing citywide,” Williams said. “It’s a priority.”

Williams said he formulated his plan during three months of studying Los Angeles police operations and with advisers such as Jack R. Greene, a Temple University criminal justice professor who advised Williams in Philadelphia. Under the proposal, Greene would be hired as a part-time consultant to the LAPD.

The proposal calls for:

* Strengthening neighborhood organizations, involving them in policy and decision-making and creating citizen advisory councils for each of the department’s 18 divisions.

* Training senior patrol officers in aspects of community policing and creating a networking forum for such officers to exchange ideas.

* Training for police commanders and community leaders who take part in advisory councils.

The result, according to the proposal, will be the development of “partnerships” inside and outside the department.

“Inside the department, this emphasis takes the form of strengthening patrol service delivery and management,” the proposal reads. “Outside the department, this emphasis takes the form of building bridges with the Los Angeles community; bridges that will strengthen community-based policing, thereby improving neighborhood safety and public acceptance of the police.”

Williams said piecemeal community policing efforts already under way in the city will merge with his plan with few modifications.

Last year, six police divisions began community policing projects. The City Council ordered the start of a pilot project in response to the findings of the Christopher Commission, which made a historic review of LAPD operations after the Rodney G. King beating.

Before that, a San Fernando Valley-wide community policing program was instituted by Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker, commander of the area’s five divisions. Many of the objectives of Williams’ proposal are already being carried out in the Valley. In the Foothill Division, an advisory council of more than 50 residents, including police critics, was created in July.