A New Way for LAPD to Target Crime

In what was described as a “historic moment for the Los Angeles Police Department,” top department officials Wednesday kicked off a new approach to policing aimed at holding high-ranking commanding officers accountable for reducing crime in the city.

With little public fanfare, department brass conducted a “test run” of the much-anticipated FASTRAC program, which is partly based on a policing model used in New York City, where it is credited with reducing crime.

“This a solid departure from the past,” said Deputy Chief Mark Kroeker, who has been spearheading the LAPD’s move to a mode of police work that uses crime statistics to identify problem areas and to better deploy department resources.

Once crime trends or problem areas are discovered, commanding officers must devise strategies to combat them or face negative performance evaluations.

While the focus--as in New York--is on cutting crime, LAPD supervisors will also be held responsible for any increases in citizen complaints, traffic problems, response times, overtime expenditures, unnecessary use-of-force incidents and other problems.

At a meeting at Parker Center, Kroeker told several dozen commanding officers that the program is evolving and “we’re still sorting things out. . . . This is the maiden voyage. It may not be pretty.”

For example, Kroeker noted, a permanent location for the FASTRAC meetings has not yet been found, so the conference room near the office of Chief Bernard C. Parks was used Wednesday.

Commanders sat around a row of desks facing three projection screens, which pinpointed crimes on maps of the city. Statistics were broken down to show trends, such as time of day and specific location of crimes.

During the meeting, commanding officers explained how they were addressing crime.

“There are three rules,” Kroeker said at the outset of the meeting. “The first is no whining.”

Next, he said, was the “24-hour rule” that meant he didn’t want to hear commanders explain what they had done in the past day to correct a crime problem--he wanted to know what they had done in previous weeks and months to address an issue.

Finally, Kroeker who is retiring and whose replacement has not been named, said commanders needed to be diligent about providing the department crime analysts with accurate data.

Police officials then closed the meeting to the public, saying they were going to discuss confidential tactics and strategies.

“Everybody is really excited about this,” said Deputy Chief Michael J. Bostic, commanding officer of the San Fernando Valley. “This really allows us to focus on crime.”

Bostic’s command was the first of the LAPD’s four bureaus to undergo scrutiny in the department’s new era of accountability. During the meeting, he was asked about homicide increases in certain areas of the Valley, and explained what he was doing about them.

By January, the program is expected to be operating citywide. Once a week, a commanding officer from one of the bureaus will meet with department brass to discuss the crime patterns and trends.

Under FASTRAC--which stands for Focus, Accountability, Strategy, Teamwork, Response and Coordination--the LAPD will crack down on violent crimes, as well as on petty and so-called “quality of life” violations, such as vandalism, graffiti and loitering.

Criminologists and police experts say the theory behind such a policing style is that minor crimes left unattended create an atmosphere in which serious offenses are more likely to occur.

Critics of such policing styles contend that those approaches tend to alienate some residents and are not conducive to community-based policing.

Moreover, some community activists fear an increase in citizen complaints of police misconduct, as has happened in New York. Already this year, the LAPD is experiencing a surge of citizen complaints compared to last year.

LAPD officials said they plan to monitor complaints and hold commanding officers responsible for any increase, just as they now are accountable for increases in crime. And they contend that FASTRAC will augment community policing efforts, not detract from them.