Alarcon Seeks Funds for Alcohol Control

City Councilman Richard Alarcon will introduce a motion today requesting $100,000 in city funds to expand a pilot alcohol enforcement program that he said has led to safer streets in the northeast San Fernando Valley.

“In one year, Operation ABC has made a dramatic difference in the safety and quality of life for thousands of residents in my district,” Alarcon said Thursday at a news conference to announce his plan. “Imagine the impact we could have if this program went citywide.”

Flanked by a crowd of local and state officials, including City Atty. James Hahn, Capt. Ron Bergmann of the LAPD’s Foothill Division and Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), Alarcon made his statement in front of the El Patio bar on San Fernando Road in Pacoima.

The bar, whose owners were denied a renewal of their operating license due to numerous complaints from neighbors, was one of several establishments shut down recently by Operation ABC.

Launched in January of last year, Operation ABC combines local, state and federal resources to target areas where a profusion of liquor outlets has led to a high volume of drunken-driving arrests, drug sales and prostitution.

A $100,000 grant from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control funded the pilot program, which was implemented in the LAPD’s Foothill and 77th Street precincts.

Police have applied for an additional $100,000 grant from the state agency to continue the program, said Sgt. Kris Pitcher, who has led the program for the department.

Alarcon’s $100,000 request from the council would represent additional funds to take the program citywide.

Pitcher said Operation ABC has reduced drunk-driving arrests and led to more than $4 million in fines in its first year, which he attributed to increased manpower and the cooperative nature of the program, which combines the resources of several police agencies.

“I grew up here walking down San Fernando Road, and I know the effect these types of establishments can have on the neighborhood,” said Cardenas, who announced his intention to introduce a bill next week to take the program statewide.

“We’re not going after legitimate business people,” he added, “but if people are abusing the law they better clean up their act or they’re going to get shut down.”