May 18--It's an iconic image: A Los Angeles police officer driving across the city's palm-lined streets, an elbow hanging out of the open window of the black-and-white cruiser, light glinting off the officer's sunglasses.
But LAPD officials are hoping to ditch that image in some Eastside neighborhoods.
Officials plan to unveil Monday a new initiative to double the small number of officers assigned in recent months to walk their beat in the city's Hollenbeck Division. The idea of "foot beats" is to move officers out of their patrol cars and onto the sidewalks of the neighborhoods they patrol, so that they are better able to know the people who live and work in that area and so community members see the officers as more approachable.
The strategy is one that is common in more compact cities such as Chicago or New York, but has had difficulty taking root in Los Angeles, where police have 469 sprawling square miles to cover.
LAPD officials say they're hoping the officers truly embed themselves in the community and dedicate themselves to small neighborhoods while working on foot.
"We have foot beats that come and go and foot beats that work some areas, but none that will be like Hollenbeck," said Asst. Chief Jorge Villegas. "100% of the time, that's all they'll do."
Villegas said the department plans to evaluate the program in the coming months and look for ways to expand it across the city if it is successful.
Officers who work the foot beats will respond to radio calls for backup, but otherwise will focus on their assigned corridor, one of eight scattered throughout the division. The officers will be hand-picked for the new assignment, said Capt. Martin Baeza, who heads Hollenbeck.
"Driving up and down the street deters crime, but you don't have that face-to-face contact with the community," he said.
