At the second Monday evening Midcity Neighborhood Council meetings at the First Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles, a few dozen community leaders from one of LA's 88 certified neighborhood councils meet monthly to discuss issues of community beautification, homelessness, safety, traffic and improvements throughout our city.
In MINC's July 9 meeting Deputy Chief Kenneth O. Garner addressed the council as the new head of West Bureau operations: Hollywood, Wilshire, West LA, Pacific & LAX regions. Garner reports directly to Chief Bratton and served in recruitment and personnel, hiring 780 officers for Los Angeles last year. He shared his vision for a more transparent, effective and cooperative policing effort:
Deputy Chief Garner seemed excited to answer questions on gang violence, youth activities and crime concerns. “Wilshire is doing very well with crime patterns." he stated (the MidCity NC is in the Wilshire division of western Los Angeles). "Gangs are a serious concern to the entire nation...we export gangs all around the world. 70-80% of murders are gang murders. It's a serious issue and unfortunately we're still up in shootings....fortunately they're not great shots.”
Many concerns remain about the lack of youth programming in Los Angeles: “If kids are busy they don't have time to hang out in the streets and do things.” Garner mentioned developing afterschool programs and night basketball to keep kids active and motivated. “Gang members are our kids. They're our neighborhood kids. We can treat them like aliens but they're still kids. We can't arrest our way out of this problem.” There was recognition amongst most community organizers in the room that youth are pulling weapons at a younger age and are less likely to listen to others.
Garner and Capri Maddox, deputy District Attorney under Rocky Delgadillo, both noted that police and city officials are not immune from crime; sharing their experiences living in the community and being broken into while investigating situations as they happen on the streets. According to Garner, “everyone has to be on the team."
Government, county and city agencies have responsibilities to both serve and protect, including preparations for emergency preparedness and serious emergencies. At times the people do not make that job any easier. To that end the Los Angeles police force continues to grow while leveraging every other city department to keep small problems from growing into epidemics.
It's a challenging job to take on; the police in Los Angeles have seen plenty of disrespect and attack. “We have to have a strong back...I tell officers that work with me, if you wanted to be loved you should've been a fireman." Garner has a sense of humor about his role in the community. "They don't call us when they're having a nice party....when the party goes crazy, that's when they call us.”
