ROSENDAHL, LAPD STEP UP POLICE PRESENCE AT VENICE BEACH

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nate Kaplan - 213-473-7011(office), 213-400-1142(cell)

ROSENDAHL, LAPD STEP UP POLICE PRESENCE AT VENICE BEACH

Patrols Will Work Nights, Partner with Community

VENICE - Taking proactive steps to enhance public safety, the Los
Angeles Police Department will begin beefing up patrols in the Venice
Beach area, Councilmember Bill Rosendahl and Captain Joseph Hiltner
announced today.

The immediate redeployment of officers in the beach and neighboring
areas will allow for nighttime patrols, special task forces to target
emerging problems and crime patterns, and a more visible police
presence.

“I am very grateful to the LAPD,” Rosendahl said. “As a major
tourist attraction, as a recreational center, and as a residential area,
Venice Beach is a unique neighborhood with its own set of challenges. I
am glad to see LAPD willing to demonstrate the flexibility and the
foresight to deal with those challenges.”

According to Hiltner, the commanding officer at the LAPD’s Pacific
Area Community Police Station, which oversees Venice, the LAPD will do
the following in the next two to three days:

Redeploy the officers assigned to Venice Beach to increase the number
of officers on the weekend.
Adjust the shifts of officers assigned to Venice Beach to extend well
into the evening.
Assign more officers to patrol Venice Beach after dark and overnight.
Enforce a “zero tolerance” policy towards infractions and
misdemeanor offenses.
Additionally, the LAPD will:

Work special task forces with patrol officers and senior lead officers,
who hear regularly and directly from local residents about emerging
neighborhood problems.
Work special overtime details to target problems identified by members
of the community.
Step up cooperative outreach efforts with social service agencies to
help steer homeless people who sleep on the beach into shelter programs
or counseling services.
“We will be working very closely with the council office and the
community in a cooperative effort to identify and solve problems,”
Hiltner said. “We are firmly committed to community-policing.”

Hiltner also said the Venice Beach detail – which usually expands
dramatically during the busier summer months – will see an early and
significant increase in officers at the start of the next deployment
period in two weeks.

“We want to set a tone early in the season that Venice Beach is going
to be safe for everyone who lives and visits there,” Hiltner said.

The LAPD made the new assignments at the request of Rosendahl, who had
spoken in recent days with Hiltner, Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger, and
Chief William Bratton. Rosendahl and LAPD officials are responding to
increased attendance and activity at the beach as spring begins and the
weather gets warmer.

“I am very grateful that the LAPD, from the top brass to the officer
walking the beat, is so committed to respecting and working with the
community,” Rosendahl said.