Police Federal Aid

The Sheriff's Department will receive more than $3 million from the federal government to hire 41 new community policing officers. The grant is part of a $30-million package to hire 416 officers in 34 states, announced Friday by President Clinton. The funding will be provided by the Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services--a Clinton administration initiative to put an additional 100,000 community policing officers on the streets.

The Sheriff's Department will receive more than $3 million from the federal government to hire 41 new community policing officers. The grant is part of a $30-million package to hire 416 officers in 34 states, announced Friday by President Clinton. The funding will be provided by the Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services--a Clinton administration initiative to put an additional 100,000 community policing officers on the streets.

The San Fernando Police Department has applied for a $150,000 federal grant to purchase mobile digital terminals, computer consoles that allow officers to run background checks on suspects faster. If awarded the grant, the department would receive an additional $40,000 in matching funds from the city, Chief Dominick Rivetti said. The federal funds would come from money made available to small cities to promote community policing.

The San Fernando Police Department has applied for a $150,000 federal grant to purchase mobile digital terminals, computer consoles that allow officers to run background checks on suspects faster. If awarded the grant, the department would receive an additional $40,000 in matching funds from the city, Chief Dominick Rivetti said. The federal funds would come from money made available to small cities to promote community policing.

Los Angeles must show it is serious about applying for federal funds to hire more police officers by being prepared to pony up a significant local contribution, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Panorama City) told a Los Angeles City Council committee Monday. "Putting more cops on the beat is what the mayor wants," Berman said. "The central question, however, is whether the council will make the tough decisions necessary to meet the program's local match requirement."

His opponents in Congress are slashing his favorite programs to ribbons, three of his Cabinet officers are battling charges of improper conduct, and he trails most Republican presidential candidates in the polls. So why does President Clinton look so pleased these days?

In a rare display of unity, representatives of more than two dozen Latino activist groups and social service organizations will join in a Latino Unity Forum today with the aim of developing a program for political empowerment in post-riot Los Angeles. Organizers hope that the forum will lead to the creation of a Latino Federation that will unite the divergent elements of a community that includes fourth-generation Mexican-Americans and recently arrived Salvadoran immigrants.

Los Angeles voters last Tuesday wrote a surprising new chapter in the remarkable story of the city's biracial coalition--which rather narrowly came together once again to reelect Mayor Tom Bradley to a fifth term. The way Bradley's coalition was created and maintained tells us something about what is possible in the city's future. We might also be able to avoid the fate of cities like New York and Chicago, where the failure to build progressive coalitions led to electoral defeats.

Los Angeles must show it is serious about applying for federal funds to hire more police officers by being prepared to pony up a significant local contribution, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Panorama City) told a Los Angeles City Council committee Monday. "Putting more cops on the beat is what the mayor wants," Berman said. "The central question, however, is whether the council will make the tough decisions necessary to meet the program's local match requirement."