Los Angeles: On Thursday, July 11, 2002, at approximately 8:00 a.m., over 100 Los Angeles Police Officers descended on a section of the San Fernando Valley known as the "Van Nuys Boulevard Corridor." Determined to enforce a "Zero Tolerance" for crime, the task force, consisting of officers and supervisors from eight separate LAPD Community Police Stations, blanketed the area to enforce strict adherence to traffic and criminal law.

"We are responding to the needs of our community by vigilantly enforcing the law. By applying a large scale police task force, we are maximizing our resources to combat specific crime problem areas," said LAPD West Valley Traffic Division Captain Greg Meyer.

Working together as a team, officers from a variety of assignments such as patrol, vice, narcotics, traffic and gang enforcement, combined their efforts to achieve ultimate success. Based upon the results, the task force was immensely successful. Over a 12-hour period, officers wrote 342 traffic citations, impounded 83 vehicles and arrested 35 individuals for crimes ranging from driving under the influence to possession of narcotics.

This task force will be applied on a continual basis and is scheduled to deploy its resources within the LAPD West Valley Area on Thursday, July 18, 2002 beginning at 8:00 a.m.

For further information, contact Captain Greg Meyer, LAPD Valley Traffic Division, 818-756-8722.

This press release was prepared by Officer Jack Richter, Media Relations Section, 213-485-3586.