VAN NUYS : Boosters Brightens Police Roll-Call Room

Until recently, officers at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Van Nuys station received new assignments and listened to the latest crime reports inside a dingy basement room with peeling paint on the walls, broken furniture and cracked floor tiles.

Day after day, after reporting for work, they would leave the station’s 35-year-old roll-call room and hit the streets with what some described as “a tough taste” in their mouths.

Now, thanks to the efforts of a community booster group, they can begin their beats on a brighter note.

After raising about $25,000 from local businesses and residents, the Mid-Valley Community Police Council has financed station efforts to refurbish the old roll-call room so that officers can start their day--or night--in more professional surroundings.

With construction completed in about two weeks, the new George Gelb Roll Call Room, named after the largest donor, was officially dedicated by department officials on Tuesday.

“The toll of the day is set here for the (more than) 300 officers who regularly pass through here,” said Sgt. Bob Shallenberger.

The new room, with its soft blue and gray tones, shiny laminated tables and fresh carpet-covered walls, “has an uplifting air about it,” he said.

“During the 30 years that I’ve been here, the roll-call room has (undergone) a lot of wear and tear. It’s nice to have a fresh perspective,” Shallenberger said.

The Mid-Valley police council, which has served as a community monitor of police performance in the area for about 12 years, decided long ago that prevalent concerns to be addressed in a precinct with high crime rates revolved around station morale.

The new roll-call room is one of several council efforts to boost that morale.

“We try to raise money to purchase things for the station that the city has no budget for,” said council President Flip Smith. “We meet with a police captain once a month to (investigate) the station’s needs and to make them aware of primary community concerns about crime in the area.

“Though we think they’re doing a good job, it’s rarely a pat-on-the-back session,” Smith said.

To draw donations from the community for the new room, the council and station officials agreed to offer sponsorship of one of the 80 swivel chairs permanently stationed in the room’s basement site for $250 a piece.

Donating money collected from garage sales and community functions, a local Neighborhood Watch group called “The Guardian Eyes of Van Nuys” said the plaque that will go on the back of their chair will serve as a reminder of the need for increased interaction between police officers and area residents.

“It’s important for these officers to know that there is a neighborhood group out there willing to support them,” said the organization’s police community representative, Leslie Bashaar. “It must be frustrating to have to deal with so much crime every day.

“There are not enough police on the streets to deal with what’s going on in this area,” she said. “(To add to their morale,) the general public needs to be involved.

“Right now, for instance, the only time people want to have a Neighborhood Watch meeting is after they’ve been a victim of crime. By then, it’s too late.”