14A49 COMMUNITY BASED POLICING MEETING DECEMBER 10, 2003

Officer Beacham conducted the “potluck” meeting. He informed attendees he will be vacationing in Cancun from December 19th through January 17^th.

Bob Decosentine was honored as Volunteer of the Year at Pacific Division for his involvement in various community programs and activities.

Officer Beacham gave us a brief rundown on the recent town hall meeting held at the West Bureau. The good news is that there were no gang related shootings in 14A49 during 2003 and gang activity is down 18%.

There are a total of 4,000 officers patrolling the streets of Los Angeles. At the West Bureau town hall meeting, the Chief spoke highly of our division. The numbers are down in every crime area, and our division has made major progress. While we have room for improvement, 14A49 and the Pacific Division as a whole are looking good.

Ongoing problems to be dealt with are parking, gangs, truancy, curfew violations, graffiti, etc. In 2004, the police will continue to work on maintaining/improving the quality of life in our area.

Chief Bratton suggested using civilian volunteers to help with paperwork and free up officers to do what they were trained to do. Perhaps in the future, permanent employees can be hired. Presently there is a great need for people to answer phones, compose and type letters, file and input information into the computer. Becoming a volunteer entails completing an application, a background check and an interview. If anyone is interested in volunteering for the Pacific Division, please contact Officer Goodman, at 310-202-2890.

On New Years Eve, Pacific Division officers work without meal breaks. Susan Wagner asked Officer Beacham to solicit food donations from the community to feed the officers. In the past, the community has been very generous. Please drop off food at 11:00 a.m. for lunch and at 5:30 – 6:00 p.m. for dinner. If you have any questions, please phone Susan at (310-445-4029). When dropping off food in the Will Call Room upstairs, please stop by the front desk and pick up a visitor’s badge.

Because of the drop in crime in 14A49 CLEAR was taken out of our area and moved to another high crime community. Down the road, it is hoped that every division will have a permanent CLEAR unit.

Volunteers out of the west bureau participate in a program to cut down on drivers exceeding the speed limit by clocking cars and recording license plate numbers. A warning note is sent to drivers exceeding the posted speed limit.

Officer Beacham mentioned he saw Sergeant Pete Casey several months ago. He has put on weight and looks good.

Meeting attendees were reminded that the holiday season is upon us and there are a lot of scam artists out there. Before donating to organizations with metal pots, check out the pot. If it has a screen it is a legitimate charitable organization. Also, solicitors must have a county permit. Ask to see their permit. If they do not have one, don’t contribute. Fire and police departments never solicit funds from the general public. Do not give out a social security number to anyone requesting it in person, over the phone, or online. This advice goes for passwords as well.

One attendee commented an excessive number of vehicles exceed the speed limit on Inglewood Blvd. between the hours of 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. He wondered if a motorcycle policeman could patrol during that time period.