Community Relations

The citizen advisory group charged with assessing the state of police-community relations in San Diego got an earful Thursday night when Southeast San Diego residents turned out 200 strong and pronounced the condition of relations nil. "I don't think in this neighborhood there are any relations between citizens and the police," Janet Aburto informed the Citizens Advisory Board on Police-Community Relations. Her opinion was repeated over and over at the public forum in Encanto.

City Manager James M. Rez has appointed a 22-year veteran police officer to the newly created position of Glendale community relations coordinator, a job he says will help improve race relations citywide. However, Rez said, he has yet to determine the duties of Richard M. Reyes, 50, a Latino who will assume the $39,054-a-year job later this month. The new post has led one minority-rights activist to speculate that the position was created simply to placate critics of race relations in Glendale.

Police are looking into the possibility that the city's two most recent hate crimes were tied to work being done by a task force created to work against such incidents, authorities said Monday. Mayor Eileen Givens' Blue Ribbon Task Force on Community Relations is made up of more than a dozen volunteers, including a pastor and rabbi who head houses of worship that were both vandalized in the last five months.

As part of an effort to improve community relations after the Rodney G. King beating, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Friday it will coordinate a litter and graffiti cleanup in the San Fernando Valley next Saturday. Operation Sparkle will include removing litter and painting over graffiti at 30 Valley locations. Valley police stations will field calls from residents interested in volunteering their time.

Forget about baseball--it's time to catch sheriff's fever. Trading cards featuring law enforcement officers and even their police dogs are emerging as the latest tool in law enforcement. The cards, which feature a public service announcement or biographical information about the deputy instead of batting statistics, are a hit with children and card collectors alike, officials say.

About 1,500 people gathered at the Foothill Division police station Saturday not to protest but to party. As part of an outreach effort to mend community relations damaged by the March beating of Rodney G. King by Foothill officers, the division opened its doors for tours, brought in a live Mexican music band, served up hot dogs and showed off police technology ranging from horses to helicopters. "I like seeing the jail," said Shirley Rodas, 10, of Sylmar. "But I'm glad it was just a visit.

Returning to the place were he began his career as a patrol officer 21 years ago, Capt. Ronald Bergmann officially took over as commanding officer of the Foothill Division of the Los Angeles Police Department on Friday. Bergmann, 48, replaces Capt. Gus Drulias, who retired after more than 30 years of service to the LAPD and 10 months as head of the Foothill Division.

Filing complaints against Long Beach police officers may become easier after city officials agreed this week to increase the number of locations where complaints will be taken. At the request of the local branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, City Manager James C. Hankla said he would post a staff member at local community centers one day a week to take complaints from the public.

The Los Angeles Police Department conducted a sweep through the San Fernando Valley on Saturday. But this time officers used brooms instead of warrants. The department's Operation Sparkle, an effort to clean up graffiti and litter throughout the Valley--as well as improve community relations damaged by the Rodney G. King beating--was a shining success, according to police and city officials participating in the one-day event.