SYLMAR : Police Academy Plan Divides Activists

A proposal to build a police academy in Sylmar has ignited deep animosity among community activists, pitting the Chamber of Commerce against a Neighborhood Watch organization and an equestrian group.

The latest salvo was fired this week, when Sylmar Chamber of Commerce President Frank Jacobs, a staunch supporter of the academy proposal, appeared at an Olive View Neighborhood Watch meeting to challenge the plan’s detractors.

Stories vary as to how events unfolded, but both sides agree that Jacobs was asked to leave the Monday night meeting amid heated exchanges.

“It was really a blood bath,” said Jacobs, who accused the group of deliberately excluding opposing viewpoints.

“We were there to discuss the pros and cons of the police academy,” said Patricia Cane, chairwoman of the Olive View Neighborhood Watch. “But out of a crowd of about 20 people, all but one were opposed to the police academy.”

The Los Angeles Police Department wants to locate the facility on open land near the Olive View Medical Center, north of the Foothill Freeway, at the edge of the San Gabriel Mountains.

The chamber has officially supported the project, and issued letters from its attorney and other officers to reaffirm its position. “Walk around town and ask people if they would support a police academy,” Jacobs said. “I stopped asking. They look at me and say, ‘Well, that’s a stupid question. Of course we’d like it.’ ”

But opponents say they control a silent majority coalescing around small homeowner groups and horse-trail users. Above all, they fear the traffic will ruin their rustic lifestyle.

“You have to understand, there’s different points of view for different reasons,” Cane said. “The Chamber of Commerce thinks the police academy will increase business with Sylmar. But if you look at the hospital, it has not brought new business to the area.”

Members of Corral 12 of Equestrian Trails Inc. also fear traffic from cadets--who are expected to make 1,200 vehicle trips to and from the facility each week--will endanger horses and riders. They also worry the cadets will damage trails and nearby hills by jogging on them during training.

“If they want to build it in Sylmar and build it at another site, OK,” said Kristine Minzey, president of Corral 12. “We don’t oppose it in Sylmar, just at the Olive View site.”