North Hollywood : Neighborhood Police Service Center Opens

Starting Monday, North Hollywood residents can file a police report, register a complaint or enroll in an anti-auto theft class at the Jewish Family Services Valley Storefront--now also a Los Angeles Police Department community service center.

Anything that can be done at a police station front desk can occur at the service center, North Hollywood Senior Lead Officer Ed Brentlinger explained. But residents tend to prefer the informal setting of the center and its proximity to their homes, he added.

“A lot of people are intimidated to go to a police station,” Brentlinger said.

Odds are that residents will get to know the two officers at North Hollywood’s fifth community service center by name, something that Brentlinger encourages.

“Most of the citizens I’ve talked to are very supportive,” Brentlinger said. “This brings more of the old-time policing back.”

Jewish Family Services donated the space for the center at 12821 Victory Blvd. It will be staffed weekly between 1 and 4 p.m. Mondays, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Wednesdays and 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Fridays. Hours are expected to be expanded after volunteers are trained to take reports and staff the office.

The center is “strategically very important” in restoring safety to a neighborhood on the outskirts of the North Hollywood and Van Nuys police divisions, City Councilman Mike Feuer said before the center’s dedication Wednesday.

“I feel very strongly that one good way to deter crime is to get police [service centers] around the community . . . and to get more officers on the beat,” said Feuer, who represents the area.