A LOOK AHEAD * After years of sitting on the sidelines as the rest of the modern world scrambled onto the Internet, some may be a bit surprised as the . . . LAPD Creates an Arresting Presence via New Web Site

Ever wonder how many burglaries occur in your neighborhood? Need directions to your local police station? Troubled by that barking dog or that abandoned car in your alley?

Where’s a person to turn, you ask? LAPDOnline.org.

Just when it seemed as if the computer age was going to pass it by, the Los Angeles Police Department this week will unveil its own Internet Web site.

And, for a department that’s frequently criticized for wallowing in the technological Stone Age, the LAPD’s presence on the Internet appears to be quite cutting-edge.

The endeavor marks an unprecedented era of openness for the department, officials say. Thousands of law enforcement questions, from the mundane to the bizarre, can be answered at the site. Even Sgt. Joe Friday--who is featured on the Web site--couldn’t keep up with all the facts.

“It’s better than walking into a police station,” said Cmdr. Dave Kalish, who spearheaded the massive project. “It’s one-stop shopping for your law enforcement needs.”

LAPD officials say their law enforcement Web site is the largest and most comprehensive in the world. More important, they say, it will become one of the department’s most powerful community policing tools.

“This is a great example of how cutting-edge technologies are involving people in their police department and bringing the community and the LAPD closer together,” said Councilwoman Laura Chick, chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee.

Starting this week, the computer-using public will be able to log on and tune in to all things LAPD. Currently, the Web site has more than 2,200 “pages” of information. The FBI, by comparison, has only about 200, LAPD officials said. The LAPD site has nearly 9,000 individual text, photo, sound and video files.

For the first time, the public will have easy access to LAPD crime statistics, which can be broken down by their communities or viewed citywide. Residents can pinpoint exactly who their captains are and which community liaison officers represent them.

They can find phone numbers not only for their local station, but for all the LAPD stations and specialized units, from the homicide to fraud divisions.

When a person signs on to the Web site, the LAPD home page shows a photo montage of cops at work and directs users to more than half a dozen categories such as Visit Your Community, General Information and Youth Programs.

Click on the photograph of Chief Bernard C. Parks and the department leader welcomes you--through a video message--to the LAPD in cyberspace.

For Parks, the Web site has been a priority during his first year in office. Before he became chief, the project had languished. Several years ago, some of the LAPD’s more computer-minded officers started creating their own home pages for their divisions.

The sites varied in quality and substance, officials said. Now, all of the divisions will be unified under the one main site.

Because of the LAPD’s slow-paced entry onto the Internet, some of the best “addresses” already were taken. For example the union quickly snapped up “LAPD.COM” for its own use.

(The LAPD Web site can be found at: https://www.lapdonline.org.)

Last week, the union threw another obstacle in front of LAPD brass, suing the department to prevent it from posting the pictures of community liaison officers--known as senior leads--on the new Web site.

Kalish said the site will be launched without those photographs. He said the union squabble is only a minor obstacle.

“The senior lead photos are only a minor part of this project,” Kalish said. “It would take weeks, maybe months, to go through everything this site has to offer.”

The LAPD Web site was funded largely by a $500,000 grant from the Crime Prevention Advisory Council of DARE America, a nonprofit youth drug education program. In exchange for the money, the organization is featured prominently on the site.

“This is going to be a tremendous resource for the public,” said Sgt. Marc D. Goodman, who led the LAPD’s team of Web designers.

He said research shows that 50% of Los Angeles County residents have access to the Internet. “That number is only going to grow,” he added.

“We believe this is the best criminal justice Web site in the world,” said Goodman, who holds a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University. He said he has studied law enforcement Web sites from England, Canada and many other places. “We really, truthfully, are opening up our operations like none other.”

Among the LAPD’s features is a mapping program that shows a person how to get to the nearest LAPD station. Even a person in Boston can get detailed driving instructions on how to get to an LAPD division.

The Web site has gripping audiotape recordings of 911 calls, such as one from a mother whose baby had stopped breathing, but was later revived.

And if a person wants to report a crime, make a complaint or commend an officer, that can be done via the site as well. In fact, they can be made in any of several languages, including Korean, Chinese and Spanish.

For the first time The LAPD is also posting a “10 Most Wanted” list, complete with suspect photographs and crime details. Each specialized unit will also post wanted lists.

The LAPD’s site also presents a somewhat sanitized account of its rich history. (Some of the LAPD’s more scandalous incidents, such as the beating of Rodney G. King, barely get mentioned, and when they do, few details are offered.)

The project, however, is far more valuable as a resource on police matters. There are crime prevention tips, as well as tips for identifying drugs. It even tells parents how to spot when their children may be high.

Kalish said the Web site is linked to more than 100 other Internet sites, including law enforcement agencies, criminal justice research organization, government entities, community groups and television programs that feature the LAPD.