Alarcon Calls for the Creation of 2 New LAPD Bureaus

Citing figures that show the San Fernando Valley as the city area most underrepresented by the Los Angeles Police Department’s top command, Councilman Richard Alarcon introduced a motion Wednesday asking the department to look into creating two new operations bureaus.

Under its current administrative structure, the LAPD is organized into four operational bureaus that serve as regional headquarters for the 9,400-officer force.

The Valley Bureau, which contains five police divisions and serves more than 1.2 million residents, is by far the largest in the city.

Alarcon said new bureaus are necessary to distribute the department’s workload more equitably and to create areas of more manageable size.

“The San Fernando Valley is 200 square miles. The South and West bureaus are about 40 square miles each,” Alarcon said. “When you think about deployment it’s really an incredible expanse. . . . The Valley could absolutely be better managed with two bureaus.”

While insisting that a new bureau is necessary for the Valley, Alarcon said he wanted to leave a recommendation on the possible location of a second new bureau up to the department itself.

LAPD operational bureaus, which typically staff between 15 and 20 officers, are not housed in their own facilities but are situated within one of the divisions in their respective regions. Each of the bureaus is headed by a deputy chief, the department’s second highest rank.

According to city demographic figures, the Valley Bureau serves twice the population of the South Bureau and 30 and 34% more than the Central and West bureaus, respectively.

Deputy Chief Martin Pomeroy, who oversees the Valley Bureau, agreed an additional bureau could help alleviate some of the pressure on the Valley’s top command.

“The [current structure] spreads the deputy chief and the command staff out pretty thin, especially if we get a sixth station out in the Valley,” Pomeroy said.

Alarcon’s motion requires the Police Department, with the assistance of other city departments, to report back to the council within 60 days on the feasibility of adding the new bureaus.

Newly appointed Police Chief Bernard Parks indicated his support for splitting the Valley’s LAPD headquarters last week only hours after being sworn in.

Parks told a packed audience at a Studio City school that he was in favor of both a new bureau and a new police station for the Valley.

“The Valley has gotten so large and so busy, it is almost impossible for one bureau to respond to all the community concerns,” said Parks, who is expected to unveil his plans for reorganizing the department today.

Alarcon, who has also been pushing for a sixth Valley police station, possibly at the site of the former General Motors assembly plant, said Wednesday that a new Valley operations bureau should be one of the department’s top priorities.

“This new bureau would provide an opportunity to spread out the workload more evenly and effectively and to bring the rank and file officers closer to the deputy chiefs,” Alarcon said.

“We have heard the chief say that he wants the deputy chiefs to be closer to the people. This is part and parcel of that concept,” Alarcon said.

Smaller operations bureaus would also help the department integrate community-based policing programs, Pomeroy said.

“In order for our community-based policing to work effectively, all those people should have access to the area commanders as well as the deputy chief,” he said.