Focus Groups Tell Police There’s Room for Improvement : LAPD: Residents and employees help force develop five-year plan. Shorter response time is a popular request.

People in Los Angeles want more police, they want them to show up faster and do a better job of fighting crime, according to an unusual opinion survey conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department.

The results of the survey are being incorporated into a five-year plan for the LAPD outlined by Chief Willie L. Williams this week and scheduled for release later this year.

Following the lead of politicians and private industry, police officials conducted focus groups at each of the department’s 18 divisions in an extraordinary move to hear the views of employees and the public.

“It was a chance to listen to what the community and what LAPD employees want,” said Police Cmdr. Garrett Zimmon. “The success of it was far greater than we imagined it would be.”

The process began last spring, when hundreds of citizens were invited to police stations citywide to vote on issues. In addition to more officers and quicker response times, a majority said they want police to work harder at reducing drug sales and eliminating gang violence.

Hundreds of officers and civilian employees were also surveyed. Topping their wish lists were shorter workweeks, improved morale and a promotion system that better reflects merit and ability. Department employees and the public agreed that officers need better equipment and facilities.

San Fernando Valley residents repeatedly ranked quicker response time among their top priorities. Currently, the average time it takes for a police officer to respond to an emergency call in the Valley is about eight minutes, slightly higher than the citywide average.

Lt. Dan Hoffman of the LAPD’s Valley headquarters said that as a result, cash overtime is being used to pay for extra patrol cars to respond faster to emergencies.

But that may not shorten the wait for non-emergency calls, which take about 47 minutes throughout the city.

At the Van Nuys Division, which has one of the heaviest call loads in the city, for example, it takes officers close to 58 minutes to respond to a routine call, according to the latest statistics released by the LAPD.

In the northwest Valley, served by the Devonshire Division, officers on average take about 36 minutes to respond to a routine call. Even so, citizens polled at the Devonshire Division made shorter response time their top priority.

Capt. Bruce Crosley, who’s in charge of Devonshire patrol officers, said his division will continue to make emergency calls its first priority.

“Our goal is to be under eight minutes, and any time we can respond that quickly in a division this big, we’re happy,” Crosley said. “The bottom line is that if there’s been a burglary and a resident has been gone for a week, that call isn’t going to be given the same priority as an emergency one.”

Zimmon said the focus groups--composed of 25 residents, business owners and other community members--were formed at each of the department’s 18 divisions. The groups voted by computer on 15 police and crime issues they had selected in advance.

Issues such as graffiti removal and increased numbers of officers would be shown, two at a time, on a big-screen television, and participants were asked to rank them. Residents who hated graffiti, for example, could enter the numeral 2 into the computer to indicate that graffiti removal is twice as important to them as having more officers.

“The screen would flip until all 15 had been compared against each other,” said Zimmon, who heads an administrative group overseeing a $379,000 federal grant to implement community-based policing in Los Angeles.

Groups across the Valley differed on some key issues.

Focus-group members from the North Hollywood Division, for example, said they wanted more police protection from violent crime, better-trained desk officers and more Neighborhood Watch groups. In the Van Nuys Division, citizens voted for more foot patrols, less graffiti and more minority officers in the department.

LAPD officials are using the responses to finish the department’s five-year strategic plan, Zimmon said.

Chief Williams outlined a few of the goals of the plan--entitled “Commitment to Action”--which is intended to improve community service as well as employee morale. It covers community policing, revamping the department’s booking system, putting more patrol officers on city streets, preventing youth crime and long-term facilities planning, Williams said.

The information is already being used, Zimmon said. A pilot program to test a shorter workweek, for example, was launched in January at four police divisions where patrol officers now work three 12-hours shifts and detectives work four 10-hour shifts each week.

Some promotions have also been frozen to keep more patrol officers out on the streets, and 240 civilian positions should be filled by July, allowing even more officers to return to patrol. Larger classes graduating from the new police academy are also expected to boost staffing levels.

Zimmon said his department is currently negotiating with union officials to keep officers in the same patrol areas longer, giving officers and the public more time to get to know each other.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

LAPD Opinion Results This week the Los Angeles Police Department released the results of unusual opinion surveys they conducted last year, asking citizens and LAPD employees to rank issues. The information is being used by the LAPD command staff to develop a strategic plan to lead the department into the next five years. Eight priorities identified by command staff members are also being considered. *

Citizens Top Priorities More officers on the street Fast response times to radio calls Eliminate gang violence Reduce drug sales Better equipment and stations for officers *

LAPD Employees Top Priorities Better equipment and stations for officers Increased personnel Promotional consideration based upon merit and ability Improved moral Compressed work schedules *

LAPD Command Staff Priorities Community policing Providing better service to the community Developing personel to greatest potential Employee- centered organization that pays attention to its employees Organize communications both internally and with the community Examining staffing from all levels Funding Continued drive of the strategic planning process Source: LAPD