NORTH HOLLYWOOD : Police Expect More Substations in Parks

Los Angeles police hope a new substation, opened this week in a North Hollywood park as part of the department’s community policing efforts, represents a trend toward institutionalizing police presence in the city’s parks.

The Community Service Center, located in the Park Center of Valley Plaza Park, will be staffed on a limited basis for the foreseeable future, according to LAPD Community Relations Sgt. Bill Martin. “Ultimately, of course, we would like to be full-service,” he said. “But for now we are limited in hours. We are really short on manpower all over.”

Officials, including Mayor Richard Riordan and Councilman Joe Wachs, expressed hope at Thursday’s ceremonies marking the substation’s inauguration--the first to be located in a San Fernando Valley public park--that it would be the model for other park-based police centers.

Sgt. Ray Davies, of the North Hollywood Division, expressed support for the placement of substations in city parks. “They are a natural gathering place for the community,” Davies said, “and people will get to know where (the station) is.”

According to Capt. Richard Wahler, the visibility of these substations creates a comfort zone for the public.

“These substations are like outposts for us,” said Wahler. “We can put a sign on the door and park a black and white outside and people know we’re there.”

Wahler said he helped set up such a center in the Westlake area of Los Angeles. “Within just a couple of months it made a world of difference. Not because of anything that we did, but just letting people see us there,” Wahler said.

The substation, located at 12240 Archwood St. and housed in the same building as the gymnasium and park director’s office, will be staffed by officers on bicycles approximately eight hours a week on a regular basis, though the schedule has not been determined. The officers also work out of the Sun Valley Community Service Center at 8128 Sunland Blvd. No additional officers have been hired to staff the new center.

The substation also will be used by officers on other regular patrol in the area who need the office space to file reports and question witnesses.

Citizens are encouraged to use the center to report crimes and “bring their concerns to the police,” said Martin.

Yet, for Ruben Derma, the senior lead officer for the North Hollywood area in which the new substation is located, getting the center open took more than just the cooperation of the Police Department and community.

“The main thing that (held) us up opening this center (was) the phone lines. They kept telling us ‘tomorrow, tomorrow,’ ” Derma said. “We just couldn’t get the phone lines installed.”