PR Firm Will Try to Polish Tarnished LAPD Image : Marketing: Hit with charges that range from racism to incompetence, the department has hired an agency to present a different public image.

The image of the Los Angeles Police Department has taken a beating in recent years, whipsawed by the police beating of motorist Rodney G. King, charges of sexual harassment and racism and, most recently, questions about the handling of the O.J. Simpson double-murder investigation.

Now, after all the flak, the department is doing what many a company or private citizen would do to get a new image: Go Hollywood.

Actually, in an effort to find professionals who can help polish the LAPD’s public image, it’s turning to an advertising and marketing agency that knows Hollywood.

“We should all be appreciating what the police department does,” said Glenn Sagon, of the Sagon-Phior Group advertising agency. “So, we thought we would use our . . . background in advertising to show people the wonderful programs (the LAPD) has developed and the heroic deeds police do every day.”

Officials at the North Hollywood firm said they are donating their work in drafting a campaign to improve the public’s perception of the department and its 8,000 officers, boost morale and generate recruitment.

The campaign is timely for the company. Sagon-Phior, which is handling advertising for “Schindler’s List” and “Home Alone” videos, is also managing the promotion of “LAPD,” a reality-based network TV series scheduled to debut this fall.

It is also timely for the LAPD, which is buffeted almost daily during the Simpson case.

“The (Simpson defense) attorneys have been blasting us on a constant basis,” said LAPD spokesman Cmdr. Tim McBride. “So, it’s nice to see someone coming to our defense.”

“People may be more appreciative, more understanding and put the more negative media coverage in perspective,” he said.

The ads must be approved by Chief Willie Williams before being made public, McBride added.

Sagon said the agency is seeking volunteers to help in the ad campaign. Once the campaign theme is developed, he said, the company will request donations of advertising space on outdoor billboards, radio, television, newspapers and magazines.

Although the style of the ads has not been determined, the idea is to show officers as everyday people doing everyday things.

“We need to make the public more aware of the men and women in the police force,” Sagon said. “They are just people living in our community, with kids and families, just like us.”

But in preparing the ad campaign, Jill Newhouse, Sagon-Phior vice president, said one officer recently told her of an incident that underscores the public’s mistrust of the LAPD.

When police went to the scene of a possible homicide, the building superintendent would not allow officers into the victim’s apartment to investigate, Newhouse said.

“The superintendent kept saying, ‘I don’t trust you,’ and, ‘When are you going to call the coroner?’ ” Newhouse said.

Notwithstanding that incident, LAPD officials hope the department’s image can be polished to reflect all the right things done by its officers.

On the job, McBride said, police risk their lives every day. And in their off-duty time, he added, many officers spend hours volunteering with youth programs such as Police Activity League (PAL) or working on anti-drug and anti-gang programs.

“We do good things,” said McBride, “a thousand times a day.”