What a Difference 6 Days and a Bar-B-Que Can Make

I read with interest the article by Olin Ericksen, "All Quiet on the Pico Front." It described a September 11th meeting of the Virginia Ave Park Advisory Committee and articulated that the month of August had been a quiet month. I left service August 25, 2006, six days before the month ended.

I quote Olin's article:

"September 12 -- For years, Pico Neighborhood residents have said they would like to know the officers policing their streets.

Now -- with the coals still glowing from the barbecue send-off of Chief James T. Butts, Jr. -- police say an internal debate is being waged over whether to assign the same sets of officers to patrol the streets of the gang-prone neighborhood.

“We would like to have officers here who people know,” Vega said.
“Ultimately, though,” said Lt. Hector Cavazos, “it’s a decision that’s above us.”

The unusually candid comments, which came during a meeting Monday of the Virginia Avenue Park Advisory Board, cut to the heart of a hotly debated issue in the minority-rich and financially poor neighborhood.

While Butts implemented a strategy known as “community policing,” residents have questioned whether a personal relationship has developed between residents and the officers policing them.

Vega and Cavazos said the same officers are being used more often, with the department rotating them between local schools and the Pico Neighborhood, which has experienced a recent rash of shootings and gang-related violence.

Board members credited several officers assigned to patrol the park with a lull in the violence so far this month, saying they have built personal relationships with the community.

The seeming change of tenure comes one month after the former chief, who left his post this month to help head security at Los Angeles area airports, defended his form of community policing at a meeting packed with angry Pico residents in the Virginia Avenue Park’s Thelma Terry center.

The media, City and police officials watched as Butts repeatedly defended his departments’ efforts to police the neighborhood, which was under a heavy patrol that included helicopter surveillance in an expensive detail known as Operation Safe Streets.

By contrast, Monday’s meeting was nearly empty, with only board members, staff and police in attendance.

With school back in session, tensions in the neighborhood appear to be cooling, and police are taking steps to scale back additional officers used in Operation Safe Streets, the officers present told the board."

So let's see if I understand this. Within 15 days of my departure, there has been a miraculous renaissance of community policing wherein officers have only now developed a strong rapport with the park and community that was absent prior. Crime is down, everyone in the neighborhood is happy, and now there is an internal debate as to whether the same officers should be assigned to the area?

Only now....and all of sudden...the people are happy and content and the birds are singing... "with the coals still glowing from the barbecue send-off..." I guess we should have had that barbecue sendoff long ago...had we only known that's all it would take to so swiftly bring about such community harmony. Could it really be possible for such a sea change to occur within less than one month? The answer to that question (for the clear headed and unbiased person) would be no.

Olin, how about calling it like it is (or perhaps doing a little investigative reporting)...the officers in the Pico Bike Unit assigned to the Pico Neighborhood average 2 years or more in this assignment before being rotated out. Crime in the Pico Neighborhood is down 63 percent in the past 12 years, as it has been in Santa Monica as a whole, and there has been no change in the mix of officers assigned to the Pico Neighborhood since the day I left. A large overtime deployment by definition will include a mix of officers who work various assignments within the Santa Monica Police Department.

The good thing is that the entire police force is composed of sensitive, caring professionals from racially diverse backgrounds who have long provided this community with the highest quality of service. So no matter who works in any neighborhood in the City, our residents get the best police service in Southern California.

No, Olin, things really didn't change in 15 days time. What happened is that the orchestrated and false campaign of the few same disingenuous voices (that you are so wont to quote with such zeal) have gone into hiatus with my retirement, and that's a good thing. An objective and rational reporter (which obviously you are not) would see and report the truth, rather than seize two quotes of two fine police officers out of context to attempt to deny the obvious....

Community policing in Santa Monica works and has been working for a long time. We have always been close to our entire Santa Monica community. On that subject, there is not now and never has been an internal debate. I applaud every one of the men and women, sworn and civilian, in the Santa Monica Police Department for what they have done and will continue to do to protect our community. The leadership of the SMPD is completely capable of continuing to improve public safety.

JAMES T. BUTTS, JR.
Deputy Executive Director - Los Angeles World Airports
Santa Monica PD (Retired)