Move Over Barbie, Here’s Officer West

Finally, a gift for the person who has everything: an LAPD doll.

Standing 1 foot tall, the handsomely chiseled cop carries a gun, baton, radio, flashlight, pepper spray and handcuffs. He goes by the ethnically bland name of “Patrol Officer West,” but carries enough attitude to keep the peace from Rampart to West L.A.

“We try to make it look as authentic as possible,” said Peter Repovich, a director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

Officer West also comes with sunglasses, keys, watch and a pager.

“Does he come with a complaint form?” asked one patrolman checking out the doll at the league office.

“The officers out here feel very vulnerable to complaints,” explained Repovich.

Officer West’s packaging boasts that he and his accouterments are precisely one-sixth scale, although his handcuffs look oddly out of proportion with his gun.

The real cops checking out the doll in the union office didn’t seem to take anything about it too seriously. “Is he anatomically correct?” one wag asked with a chuckle.

League President Mitzi Grasso said her husband, Mike, came up with the idea a year ago and mentioned it to a member of the police union’s board of directors. Mike Grasso, a sworn officer, teaches tactics at the Los Angeles Police Department’s training center in Granada Hills.

Coming soon--although not in time for Christmas--is Officer Sommers, a female cop. “The boy directors are waiting for the girl version to come out,” said Grasso.

In the lobby, another patrolman studied Officer West, who has a puffed-out chest, prominent forehead, fixed glare and plastic mesa of hair. “My wife collects Barbies, so I can put it right next to those,” he said.

Officer West allegedly will be joined by a squad room full of pals. The union plans to introduce a new one every few months.

“A K-9 officer comes with his own dog,” said Donald Lint, a league director. “There’s a motorcycle officer who comes with his own motorcycle. The air support officer comes with his own helicopter.”

A mounted police officer will come with a horse and a bike cop will have, yes, a bicycle. The SWAT officer will come in SWAT regalia. The riot control officer comes in riot gear--”just like you saw during the [Democratic National Convention],” Lint said.

And the narcotics officer, dare we ask?

“You know, we’re not sure how that’s going to work,” he said. “Probably a guy in an LAPD raid jacket.”

The league’s Web site--https://www.LAPD.com--already offers baseball caps, barbecue aprons and LAPD homicide mouse pads. The Officer West dolls, which cost $32 each, are selling like beefcakes--500 so far on the Web site.

Another 200 have been sold at the league’s downtown headquarters.

“Why a doll?” asked Grasso. “Most of our officers are heroes, and we wanted an action figure.”