Plan to Transfer Community Liaison Police Draws Fire

Los Angeles police officials Thursday night defended Chief Bernard C. Parks’ controversial plan to move community liaison officers back to patrol as a way of improving community policing, but a group of local activists continued to oppose the proposal.

“If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” said Eric Bronson, expressing a widely held view among about 100 residents who attended the Los Angeles Police Commission’s forum on community policing.

Bronson criticized the chief, who did not attend the meeting, for not consulting with community members before committing to the reassignment of “senior lead officers.”

“It’s wrongheaded,” he said. “With this one policy, [the chief] has created more ill will” than from any other proposal he has initiated in his first year in office.

Commissioner T. Warren Jackson, who chaired the forum, said he had hoped to clear up what he characterized as misinformation and faulty impressions that residents have about the chief’s plan.

“Community policing is something that we all are concerned about,” Jackson said.

Instead of dismantling the LAPD’s community policing effort, police officials said Thursday, the chief is seeking to institutionalize the philosophy, making every officer in the department responsible for community policing.

Currently, police officials said, only about 160 senior lead officers carry out the LAPD’s community policing mission. As senior lead officers, they work as liaisons between the public and the department, addressing neighborhood crime and “quality of life” issues.

Although Parks announced that he was reassigning the senior lead officers back to patrol last October, his plan has not yet been implemented departmentwide. A pilot program is underway at the LAPD’s Devonshire Division.

Capt. Joseph Curreri, who heads the Devonshire Division, said he believes that moving the senior lead officers back into patrol will help attune all patrol officers to community needs and problem solving. But he said the pilot program is trying to overcome several “challenges” in its implementation, such as ensuring that officers receive messages from community members in a timely fashion.

“Not everything is rosy,” he told the residents.

Parks wants the senior lead officers to move into the field and train junior officers on community policing techniques. Patrol sergeants would then be responsible for some of the senior lead officers’ community contacts, as well as ensuring that all patrol officers embrace the community policing philosophy.

The residents who attended the forum, many of whom are active in their local neighborhood watch and police advisory groups, said the current structure is extremely effective and does not need tinkering.

“They are our window into the department,” said one resident.

“The chief is making a big mistake,” said John Burton, a member of the LAPD’s Foothill Division community police advisory board.

Several speakers told police officials they felt the chief was ignoring their concerns. One speaker unsuccessfully asked the Police Commission to vow to evaluate Parks’ plan after it has been implemented and agree to abolish it if community feedback is negative.

“Your minds are made up. It’s a done deal,” Joe Lozano said. “We’re just beating our jaws here.”