BOYLE HEIGHTS : New Scope of Duties at Police Substation

The Los Angeles Police Department has opened a substation in Boyle Heights that will be staffed by two officers from the Hollenbeck division.

Their duties will include helping neighborhood residents deal with matters that do not fall under the traditional definition of policing, such as alerting the city to broken street lights, graffiti and abandoned cars, said Capt. Norman Rouillier, commanding officer of the Hollenbeck patrol division. The officers will respond to emergency calls but will spend most of the eight-hour days in the office, he said.

“One of the concepts behind community-based policing is making our services more available to the people, and the way to accomplish that is through these substations,” Rouillier said. “It all has to do with joining in partnerships with the community and it’s great to see the community respond as it has.”

The Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce, Church of the Resurrection and other business and community leaders pitched in about $2,000 to open the office at 3354 E. Olympic Blvd., said Luisa Campano, press deputy for Councilman Richard Alatorre.

An additional $1,000 for the station came from Alatorre’s office, aside from the officers’ salaries. And for the next nine months, community leaders have pledged to come up with the $800 a month it will take to run the station.

The Police Department also has a substation in El Sereno at 5150 N. Huntington Drive. That station, which opened recently, is staffed by two Hollenbeck officers as well.