Chief asks council to endorse police beats

Deirdre Newman

Police Chief John Hensley wants the department to be more aggressive

in solving problems by using a community policing approach.

On Monday, he will ask the City Council to endorse the philosophy

of community policing, which would create a partnership between the

police department and other departments -- such as public works and

code enforcement -- to solve problems.

It is the first significant policy change from the department

since Hensley took office in June.

If the resolution in favor of community policing is approved, it

would be the first in the country, as far as he knows, Hensley said.

“What I’m told is there’s no other city in the country that has a

resolution from the City Council that this is how we’re going to do

this,” Hensley said. “A lot of them have policy statements, but

they’re not adopted in a resolution.”

The council’s support for a community-based approach would

illustrate a deep level of commitment to this philosophy, Hensley

said.

“As an example, this just demonstrates to other department heads

that if we’re trying to clean up an alley where there’s refrigerators

dumped, and maybe couches, they can rest assured that what we’re

doing is supported by the policy makers, because [the policy makers]

pay the bills,” Hensley said.

This style already has proponents in the community.

“I think it’s phenomenal,” said Bill Turpit, a Westside activist.

“I think it’s a radical change, and I would certainly expect it to

improve the relationship between residents and their officers and

also improve the role that community plays in assisting the police

department, which would improve the level of public safety.”

The department uses a traditional “command and control” style in

which officers react to incidents one-by-one. Community policing

assigns officers to specific beats so they can become more familiar

with the area they serve. It also involves using data to determine

where most crimes are occurring and dedicating resources to those

areas to prevent them.

Under this approach, officers would be spread equally throughout

the city, Hensley said.

In the past, if problems flared up on the Westside, for example,

officers would be sent there to deal with it and then go back to

patrolling the city. Then things would subside for a while. When

something happened again, the officers would go back.

Community policing would allow officers assigned to the Westside

to work that beat day in and day out, Hensley said.

“We would take care of problems on a consistent basis and solve

[the problem] then,” Hensley said. “We wouldn’t wait until we start

getting complaints or some crime occurs.”

Mayor Gary Monahan said the resolution confirms the attitude the

city already has toward policing.

“Being more proactive is definitely now, and always has been, a

good idea, and I think we’ve been proactive in the past,” Monahan

said. “This is a little more emphasis on community.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.