RESEDA : Police Officials to Speak at Meeting

A town meeting with Los Angeles police officials is scheduled for 7:30 tonight in the Reseda High School auditorium, 18230 Kittridge St.

West Valley Police Capt. Valentino Paniccia, West Valley Patrol Cmdr. Ron Bergmann and Deputy Police Chief Mark A. Kroeker are expected to speak and take questions from the audience.

Police will discuss the possibility of civil unrest, said Ann Kinzle, manager and executive director of the Reseda Chamber of Commerce, who helped set up the hastily arranged meeting. Kinzle said police hope to calm nerves stretched taut with days of waiting for a verdict in the trial of four police officers charged in the beating of Rodney G. King.

“We want to quell the anxieties and rumors,” Kinzle said, adding that waiting for the verdict is increasing tensions in the community. “It’s unbelievable. I’ve got my TV on all day these days without the sound, waiting for the verdict.”