Police Put Recycling Receipts Into Training

Lately, newspapers have been good to officers at the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division.

In less than a year, those based at the Reseda station have collected about $2,400 by recycling newspapers, Officer Michael Callan said.

“Everybody’s getting involved--the detectives, the officers and even the civilians who work here,” said Callan, who coordinates the division’s training exercises and uses the recycling refunds to defray expenses.

The money has been used for, among other items, ammunition spent during firearms training, to buy targets and cover the fees charged to officers at shooting ranges, Callan said.

In addition, the funds have helped cover some of the costs of food brought in during longer training exercises or seminars, he added.

“It’s something the officers started on their own,” said Capt. Val Paniccia, commanding officer of the West Valley Division. “We’re just trying to make things work as well as we can” on a limited budget, he added. “Whatever money comes in goes into that training fund.”