Deputy Chief Terry Hara, Commanding Officer, Operation West Bureau
Captain Dennis Kato, 77th Street Division
Captain Matthew Blake, Olympic Division
Captain Blake Chow, Hollenbeck Division
Captain Joseph Mariani, Recruitment and Employment Division
Captain Eric Davis, Wilshire Division
Captain John Egan, Rampart Division
Special Guests:
Commissioner Anthony Pacheco, President, Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners
Commissioner Alan Skobin, Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners
Mr Frank Quiambao, Special Assistant to the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security
Mr Arif Alikhan, Deputy Mayor for Homeland Security and Public Safety
Mr David Iwata, Asian Pacific Islander Community Chair
Welcome and Introductions – Deputy Chief Terry Hara
Deputy Chief Hara greeted and thanked everyone for attending and supporting the API Forum. He also thanked them for attending his promotional ceremony.
Deputy Chief Hara introduced our Staff Officers and Special Guests. Deputy Chief Hara thanked Mr Phillip Miller for providing tonight’s facility and thanked Mr Jung Shin and Edward Koo, Owners of Tangier Restaurant for providing tonight’s appetizers and refreshments.
Deputy Chief Hara also made a presentation of certificate to Mr Robert Yang, Controller, Metropolitan and Water District for his dedication and support of LAPD.
Remarks – Chef William J. Bratton
Chief William Bratton acknowledged Deputy Chief Hara’s recent promotion and thanked the Commissioners for attending tonight’s forum. Chief Bratton shared information about the current state of the city, even though the city is in financial hardship the Mayor Villaraigosa will continue to support LAPD and it’s efforts of hiring 1000 additional officers. LAPD received funding to acquire 10,000 new radios. Each officer will be assigned a radio. The Los Angeles City Counsel approved the purchase of 1000 new tasers and 1500 in-car videos. Chief Bratton also stated the official name for the 20th Police Station as Olympic Division and it should be open early 2009.
Chief Bratton provided crime statistics for the first 3 months of 2009. Part I crimes are down 8% except homicide which increasing by 6%.
Guests:
Commissioner Anthony Pacheco greeted the forum and reflected on the changes to the department in the past 3 years since he was appointed to the commission. He is looking forward to working and getting to know the concerns of the community. He also touched upon how LAPD has changed for the better, especially in diversifying the command staff of LAPD.
Mr Arif Alikhan, Deputy Mayor of Homeland Security and Public Safety, congratulated Deputy Chief Hara for his recent promotion. Mr Alikhan thanked Chief Bratton and the men in blue for the decrease in crime and is looking forward to even lower crime.
Presentations:
Recruitment Captain Joseph Mariani advised the current status of hiring 1000 new officers. In order to increase our officers, LAPD needs to hire 3700 officers in the next 5 years. LAPD looses an average of 500 officers per year due to retirement. In 1980 LAPD had approx 74 Asian Pacific Islander Officers, currently there are 850 API Officers. He also encouraged business owners to allow LAPD to post recruitment information at there businesses.
Officer Bruce Borihanh provided information on an upcoming recruitment event. LAPD will have a recruitment fair on Saturday, May 10 at Elysian Academy. He requested everyone to spread the word and encourage those interested to attend the recruitment fair.
Captain Matthew Blake thanked the Korean Community for their strong efforts in supporting the LAPD. He is looking forward to working with the graduates of the Korean Police Academy and building a relationship with them. Capt Blake also provided an update on the 20th Police Division and revealed the boundaries of the new division. Olympic Division will receive parts of Hollywood, Wilshire, and Rampart Division. The borders will be Melrose to the north, 10 fwy to the south, Plymouth/Crenshaw to the west and Hoover to the east. The primary reason for the boundaries was dictated by LAPD response times and trying to keep Koreatown together in one division.
Detective Erin Camphouse, Real Estate Fraud Unit, Commercial Crimes Division discussed the opportunity of predators in this real estate market. The increase in foreclosures allows predators to obtain personal information once a home goes into the foreclosure process. Once the predators obtain your information they make contact offering assistance from the foreclosure process. They try to gain your trust and have you sign various documents to take advantage of you further. If you feel you have been the victim of such a scam then Detective Camphouse can help by assisting you obtain a civil attorney and investigating the criminal aspect of the case. She also advised of an opportunity for those in financial diffiulty to attend a seminar offered by the Governors office on April 26th. She will have flyers for those interested.
Open Discussion:
The open discussion included the following comments, questions and answers:
Several community members thanked the LAPD for considering the needs of the Korean Community in creating the boundaries for the new Olympic Division.
Community members expressed their desire to help the department. Captain Blake responded by seeking volunteers to help with translation, to help outreach for the Explore programs, and other youth programs. He expressed a need to build relationships with those who graduated from the Korean Community Police Academy. Capt Blake also requested the desire to work with the multiple ethnic groups that make up Olympic Division in decorating the new police station.
A community member (Michael from LA Olympic Lions Club) requested the aid of LAPD to host a Crime Prevention Seminar. He is working to have a seminar on June 5th, Thursday, at Oxford Hotel to inform the community of crime prevention.
Another community member asked what LAPD was doing in regards to cultural competency and sensitivity? In response to the question Assistant Chief McDonnell advised that officers receive some training in the academy. Officers also receive additional training when they are assigned to a new division. LAPD does what it can with what we have and we are always seeking volunteers from the community to help in cultural sensitive issues.
A forum participant asked what resources are available to those who have been victimized by violent crimes? Victims suffer emotional and mental scars and what sort of help can you provide? Assistant Chief McDonnell informed the forum of a citizen response team that assist those in traumatic incidences. They are a volunteer group who are trained to deal with traumatic issues. More information can be obtained from the city website or the fire department website for volunteer opportunities and detail information. Mr Alikhan also advised that the city provide assistance. They city currently has approx 150 volunteers who have received training and assist victims. Mr Alikhan was unsure how many Korean speakers volunteer but he could find out.
The Safer City Initiative was brought up by a community member. He wanted to know how long LAPD would be committed to having 50 additional officers in Downtown? Assistant Chief McDonnell advised the community member he could not give a definitive answer due to the uncertainty of crime trends and personnel deployment. It all depends on the return of our investment. If we are not receiving much benefit from having 50 officers in an area then we will redeploy the officers in a higher crime area. LAPD looks at 25 different factors when it makes decisions on redeployment.
A member of the forum cited that homicide of youth has increased and that there is a discord between Asian youth and LAPD. Deputy Chief Hara advised of perception of youths and LAPD. He cited a previous program where youths and LAPD officers met in a meeting and they were asked what they perceived of each other and the discord of the two groups began to dissipate once they understood each other’s perception. He also advised of the various youth programs such as Daps, Explores, and Pals programs for the youth.
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