Open House Saturday at LAPD Station

To give residents an idea of what goes on behind station doors, the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division will open its doors for public tours Saturday.

Visitors will learn about the SWAT team, bomb squad, mounted horse unit, motorcycle unit and see a police helicopter, said Sgt. Cindy Brounsten, the station’s community relations officer.

Members of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) unit and the LAPD reserve officers and Explorer program will be on hand to explain their duties.

An LAPD recruiting unit will also be available to provide information on joining the department.

Brounsten said inmates normally in custody at the station will be transferred for the day to the Van Nuys Division so residents can tour the West Valley jail.

The public tours run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the station, 19020 Vanowen St.

The division opens its doors every year to the public in conjunction with the West Valley’s Operation Sparkle event, in which hundreds of volunteers gather at various sites to clean up their neighborhoods.

Armed with paintbrushes, rakes, trash bags and water hoses, the volunteers spruce up designated areas most of the morning, then travel to the open house for lunch and a tour of the station, Brounsten said.

“We like to interact with the community, and the kids love this,” she said. “They get to do hands-on things, like get into the helicopter.”

A large number of the Operation Sparkle volunteers are from Scout troops, schools and church youth groups, she added.

For more information, call (818) 756-8406.