Doctor’s Dream Realized With Opening of Police Substation

It was a dream of Dr. Linda Morimoto to have a koban--a “police box” similar to Los Angeles’ police substations--in Little Tokyo.

The dream came true a month too late.

Morimoto, founder of the Greater Little Tokyo Anti-Crime Assn. and an obstetrician who delivered an estimated 2,000 babies, was murdered at age 75 in her Westlake district home on March 29. Police believed the attack was a home-invasion robbery.

On Thursday, those who remembered Morimoto celebrated the opening of a koban on 1st Street.

Marked with a star-like emblem above the door similar to those above kobans in Japan, the new police substation, which will be staffed by two officers, was dedicated in memory of Morimoto, whom Mayor Richard Riordan called “a true saint of the city of Los Angeles.”

The koban also will serve as a visitor information center for Japanese and American tourists.

The opening celebration drew a crowd of more than 100 residents and politicians and included traditional Japanese ceremonies.

The festivities commenced with shi-shi mai, a lion dance, in which a man wearing a stylized carved lion head danced to drumming and was followed by a blessing by members of the Los Angeles Buddhist Church Federation, who chanted and burned incense.

“I visited a koban in Tokyo,” Riordan said at the opening. “It’s a great example of community policing. We are learning from the people of Japan how to do community policing better.”

Officer Patrick Black, who along with Officer Jon Lennox has been patrolling Little Tokyo for about five years and will now work out of the koban, said the substation will act as a sanctuary for Japanese tourists and Japanese-speaking people during an emergency.

“The koban system, it sounds like a pretty good idea,” Black said. “[The people] can trust us.”

Black and Lennox both knew Morimoto well, and were both shocked by her death.

“I think she was an anti-crime fighter extraordinaire,” said Lennox, describing her as a strong-willed woman who had many officers “petrified” because of her feisty attitude.

Police say Little Tokyo is the safest area in downtown because of foot and bicycle patrols by police and the work of Morimoto’s organization.

Members of the Little Tokyo anti-crime group have weekly night patrols of their own and have a surveillance team that reports crimes such as aggressive panhandling and thefts.