CANOGA PARK : Police Station to Add Video Conferences

The West Valley Division of the Los Angeles Police Department will soon become the first police division in the city able to hold video conferences with prosecutors.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted to grant $17,500 to the West Valley PALS, a police booster group, which will use the money to buy video and computer equipment for the West Valley station.

The project is designed to allow police detectives to go over crime reports and other information about a case via television with the city attorney’s office and the district attorney’s office. Through these discussions, prosecutors decide whether to file charges in a particular case.

Currently, detectives must drive to the Van Nuys or San Fernando courthouses to meet with the government lawyers.

“You’ll have the LAPD spending more time solving crimes and less time driving to and from the courthouse,” said Eric Rose, an aide to City Councilwoman Laura Chick.

The money for the equipment will come from a discretionary fund administered by Chick’s office for community improvement projects.

The equipment includes three cameras, three computers, a fax machine and a modem. One computer and one camera will be installed at each of the three agencies: the police station, the Van Nuys outpost of the city attorney’s office and the Van Nuys branch of the district attorney’s office.

If the program is successful, it could be used as a model for similar projects throughout the city, said Capt. Val Paniccia, commander of the West Valley station.