Chick Seeks Larger LAPD Planning Role

In an effort to make buildings less vulnerable to crime, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick will recommend today that police become more involved in the city’s planning process.

Chick’s program, which she calls Design Out Crime, would have police suggest the use of lighting, fences and landscaping to make proposed homes and business less vulnerable to crime.

“As the city of Los Angeles addresses crime, we must look beyond traditional methods of policing to examine whether all of our policies might enhance public safety,” she said.

But Chick’s proposal received a lukewarm reception by a zoning official. Albert Landini, an associate zoning administrator for the city, said the idea of designing buildings to better deter crime--known among planners as building “defensible space”--is a “vague” concept that has not been entirely effective in other cities.

“I don’t see anything that police can suggest that we haven’t already thought of,” Landini said. On many occasions, he added, aesthetic qualities are lost when designers concentrate too much on deterring crime.

As part of the city’s current approval process, proposed projects such as liquor stores, bars, massage parlors and billiard halls are normally referred to the local police division for comments and suggestions.

But Ken Bernstein, Chick’s planning deputy, said the councilwoman’s efforts would expand police participation to have the force comment on all types of business and residential projects early in the approval process.

Police, he said, can make recommendations on how to improve visibility to allow neighbors to keep an eye on one another or suggest how to use lighting and fencing to eliminate hiding areas for criminals.

“All of these things can be done without having to build fortress-like projects,” Bernstein said.

Chick’s motion asks the Los Angeles Police Department, the city’s Planning Department and other agencies to convene a Design Out Crime working group. If the City Council approves the motion, the group would be required to draft the recommendations within 60 days.