Berman Vows to Fight for Crime Bill Funding : Police: Congressman hopes the maximum amount of federal money will lead to more officers patrolling the Valley.

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) promised Tuesday to fight for the maximum funding from President Clinton’s crime bill so that the city can hire more police officers and, in particular, increase patrols in the San Fernando Valley.

Speaking to the city Police Commission, Berman urged police and city officials to take advantage of the $8.8-billion crime bill signed into law last month by submitting an aggressive application to bolster the Los Angeles Police Department’s underfunded force.

“Putting more cops on the beat in the communities of Los Angeles is the single most effective step we can take to confront the scourge of crime,” he said.

The congressman said he hopes the crime bill funding that eventually is approved will mean more officers in the Valley, which he said is severely under-patrolled.

“There really ought to be 1,000 more officers in the Valley,” he said an an interview.

Encouraged by Berman’s promise to support the city’s application, police and city officials said they will consider applying for a waiver of federal funding limits contained in the crime bill when they submit an application early next year.

“His support is very important because he’s a very influential member of Congress,” said Michael Thompson, the city’s director of criminal justice planning, who is helping draft the city’s application.

Commission member Gary Greenebaum agreed. “Hopefully, we can come up with the appropriate measures for maximizing the funds we will receive,” he said. “Who’s more deserving than we?”

In a related matter, the City Council voted unanimously to instruct the Police Department to consider building two new police divisions, including one serving the northeast Valley communities of Panorama City, North Hills, Arleta and Mission Hills.

Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents those areas, said he hopes the additional Valley division will reduce police response time and, thus, reduce crime problems in those communities.

He has suggested that police consider applying for crime bill money to pay for the new division, which police officials say could cost as much as $35 million to build and $10 million annually to run.

“If we add as many as 2,000 new officers, we have to talk about adding new divisions,” Alarcon said.

Berman, however, said he does not think the crime bill will fund the new division. He suggested Alarcon and other city officials consider using other federal money to pay for a new station.

Under the anti-crime package that Congress passed in August, cities, towns and counties that want to share in the $8.8 billion set aside for hiring police are required to submit plans to the Justice Department explaining how the new officers would be used.

But the bill offers to pay only about $25,000 per officer annually for a three-year period. The cities must provide 25% of the total cost in matching dollars.

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Because it costs Los Angeles as much as $100,000 a year for a new officer’s salary, training and equipment, the city would have to pick up most of the costs of new officers even if a crime bill application is approved, Thompson said.

The city’s application will probably seek between $75 million and $100 million, enough to fund at least 500 new officers and equipment, Thompson said. Federal officials are expected to decided on the applications by July.

But Berman said that if the attorney general grants a waiver for such limits, the bill can pay more for each officer. He added that if Los Angeles is willing to exceed its 25% matching share, the attorney general may also increase the per-officer amount funded by the bill.

Whatever money the city gets from the crime bill will help Mayor Richard Riordan pay to meet his goal of putting about 3,000 new officers on the street, Berman said.

“This is like found money,” he said. “This is like manna from heaven.”