Home Is Where the Heart Is : How a cop relates to the community depends on attitude, not residence

Ideally, the police officers who patrol Los Angeles all would live in the neighborhoods where they work. And, ideally, every cop would know the neighborhood so well that he or she even would know when a particular teen-ager was playing hooky.

This sort of intimacy still occurs in some towns and cities. Indeed, a “community policing” relationship between Los Angeles Police Department officers and residents should be encouraged. But it’s downright silly to suggest that where an officer lives is the determinant of attitude, or “feel” for a community. A good cop can live 20 miles from his or her precinct without ill effect. A bad cop can live around the corner.

That point seems to have been lost in the report released Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union. The study says that 83% of LAPD officers live outside the city limits. Because many live in suburban white areas, the report comments that “the racial and ethnic diversity in which officers and their families reside, socialize and go about their personal routines generally bear little resemblance to the city the officers police.” That’s true. But it’s quite a leap to imply that cops who live in largely suburban and white areas are somehow automatically not quite up to the job of policing a multiracial urban area.

A 1974 California constitutional amendment bars residency requirements used elsewhere to ensure that officers live within city limits. So where an officer lives cannot be mandated. But the ACLU does recommend that rental subsidies and low-interest loans be used to encourage more cops to live in the city. Given the demands already placed on the city budget--the need for more police foremost among them--channeling public funds into such a program would be ill-advised.

But yes, there must be common bonds between the police and the community. That’s a strong argument for the LAPD’s aggressive recruitment of minorities and women. If more officers wind up living in the city, so much the better. But the important thing is that officers respect the communities in which they work.