$8 Million Raised for LAPD Computers

A private sector campaign to computerize the Los Angeles Police Department has raised $8 million of its $15-million target in three months, city officials said Monday.

The Mayor’s Alliance for a Safer L.A., a coalition of local business and civic leaders formed in August by Mayor Richard Riordan, Police Chief Willie L. Williams and the head of Kaufman & Broad Home Corp., Bruce Karatz, hopes to computerize the department, whose officers currently spend up to 40% of their day completing paperwork.

The alliance hopes to start purchasing equipment as early as January.

The group on Monday also launched an 800 number--(800) 4-SAFE-LA--to encourage other businesses and individuals to contribute. The money is expected to buy 1,700 computer workstations as well as electronic mail and voice mail equipment for the department’s 18 police stations, four traffic bureaus and administrative headquarters at Parker Center.

“The computers will save over 75% of (officers’ paper processing) time,” Riordan said in front of a 20-foot paper pyramid symbolizing the amount of paperwork processed by the LAPD each month. “Computers will add over 350 police officers to the streets of Los Angeles every day, doing community-based policing and making the city safer.”

The 16 major private donors included the Ahmanson Foundation, which gave $3 million, and Blue Cross of California, which gave $1.5 million. Other donors of more than $100,000 were William Keck Jr., L.A. Cellular, Hollywood Leadership Alliance, Food 4 Less, Arco, Ticketmaster and Kaufman & Broad. The engineering giant Fluor Daniel has volunteered system design and project management services.

The alliance says its combined effort is expected to generate one of the largest private gifts ever to the LAPD.