GLENDALE : Grant to Help Community Police Effort

Glendale Police Chief James Anthony used the opening of a new home base for Glendale’s pilot law enforcement program in southern Glendale on Thursday to announce that the city has been awarded a $375,000 federal grant to help expand its community policing efforts.

Launched in January, the Community Police Partnership (COPPS) program now covers the southwestern part of the city, but Anthony said his vision is to include all of Glendale within three years. The program’s new outreach center, a small office inside the Catholic Charities building on San Fernando Road where residents can seek help with their problems, is the first step, he said.

“What you see here is a small beginning, but I think it’s a strong foundation for expanding community policing in our city,” Anthony said. “I think we’re going to be a much better community because of it.”

Officers involved in the COPPS program say they have started a new style of crime-fighting, where officers get to know the neighborhoods on their beat and the people who live there. Rather than simply respond to calls from the public, the officers patrol the area daily in cars, on bikes and on foot, often stopping to chat with residents, said Sgt. Leif Nicolaisen, supervisor of the program.

Sometimes the officers provide help on a personal level. In one case, police befriended a 10-year-old girl with behavioral problems and helped steer her away from gang influences, officials said. In another, the officers are working with the city’s Housing Department to find places to stay for people in a homeless encampment.

“Community policing is an attempt to address the underlying problems. It gives the officers the freedom and latitude to solve real problems in the community,” Nicolaisen said.

COPPS is now staffed by Nicolaisen and two officers, and it serves all neighborhoods south of Colorado Street and west of Central Avenue--an area chosen for its high rate of police calls, police said.

With the federal grant funds, the department plans to add four officers and expand the program to all neighborhoods south of the Ventura Freeway. Also, the money will be used to station one COPPS officer in the La Crescenta area.

In three years, police said, they hope the program will cover all of Glendale with 12 officers and two sergeants.

The $375,000 grant, awarded under the 1994 federal crime bill, will be supplemented by city funds to cover a total estimated cost of $1 million for new personnel, vehicles and equipment to expand the program, officials said.