Police Commission Backs New Station in Valley

The Police Commission voted Thursday to recommend dividing the San Fernando Valley into two bureaus and creating a sixth Valley police station after Los Angeles police bosses promised the changes would dramatically reduce response times.

Deputy Chief Michael Bostic, commanding officer of the Valley bureau, said the reorganization would help reduce emergency response times, which are eight and nine minutes in some parts of the Valley, to seven minutes, the department standard.

“This is the next logical step for policing in the San Fernando Valley,” Bostic told the Police Commission.

Commissioners agreed to send the plan to the City Council for final action.

“This looks like a long overdue move and it’s a very sensible one to reflect the growth in the Valley,” said Commissioner Dean Hansell.

A sixth station in the north-central Valley would take some of the area and workload now handled by other five stations, and probably would become the busiest division in the Valley, Bostic said.

The deputy chief said he believes the additional station would reduce the Valley response time to emergency calls by nearly 40 seconds, to seven minutes.

The LAPD hopes the new Valley bureau can be established this year.

Cutting emergency response times in the Valley is seen as a major selling point as city officials attempt to get the necessary two-thirds vote in April for passage of a $744-million bond measure proposed for the June ballot.