. see meeting schedule listed below

LA's Opportunity to Grow . . . or not . . . "Days of Dialogue" meetings set for Thursday OPINION by Everett Littlefield and Bill Murray

The recent televised footage here in Los Angeles of alleged car thief Stanley Miller's arrest, and his being kicked and struck with a flashlight, may well offer us an opportunity to grow.

Or not ... it's up to us.

In the past, LA has developed an unfortunate but perhaps well deserved reputation when encounters between the police and residents have resulted in less than attractive images and consequences.

LAPD's commanding officers and community policing people from across the city have worked hard for the past several years to dispel this reputation, and to effect changes in both the Department and the neighborhoods, by changing behavior and attitudes ... to quell suspicion and build trust.

We recognize it's tough to be a police officer ... just as we recognize that some Angelenos are still suspicious.

But in some respects we should see the video as a chance to test our resolve to deal with these incidents in a far more healthy way.

Throughout the 90s we struggled to find reforms in our law enforcement and judicial systems. The Christopher Commission made significant recommendations and the Consent Decree mandated change.

The challenge in the next few days and weeks will be to take full advantage of the many tools now in place that have been created to avoid the kinds of problems LA has had in the past.

This will present Los Angeles with its first opportunity to put all those reforms into effect.

A series of roundtable discussions will be held next week throughout Los Angeles, designed to give residents a chance to voice concerns.

These "Days of Dialogue" meetings are set for Thursday at two dozen community centers from North Hills to Compton.

Here are the scheduled times and locations:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Days of Dialogue" meetings Thursday, July 8th CITYWIDE ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS REGARDING THE STATUS OF EFFECTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND POLICE REFORM Updated: 7/6/04 @ 2:00 p.m. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Time of Dialogue Host Site 8:30 a.m. Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce 350 Bixel Street Los Angeles, CA 90017 Contact: George Kieffer 213/580-7500 8:30 a.m. American Jewish Committee 9911 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90035 Contact: Jason Katz (310) 282-8080 ext 311 10:00 a.m. Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) 10950 South Central Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90059 Contact: Tina Watkins 323/563-5639 10:00 a.m. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department 4700 Ramona Blvd Monterey Park, CA Contact: Scottie Gray 323/753-4673 12:00 noon African American Voter Rep Project (AAVRP) 2092 West Jefferson Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90018 Contact: Kevin Biggers 323/733-2132 12:00 noon Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles (private) 6041 Cadillac Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90034 Contact: Mehera Christian 323/857-2761 12:00 noon Homeboy Industries 1916 East First Street Los Angeles, CA 90033 Contact: Norma Gillette 323/526-1254 12:00 noon Toberman Settlement House 131 North Grand Avenue San Pedro, CA 90731 Contact: Howard Uller 310/832-1145 12:00 noon Bradley Milken Youth and Family Center 1773 East Century Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90002 Contact: Barbara Piggie 213/473-3607 12:00 noon University of California Los Angeles Ackerman Student Union, A Level Veiwpoint Conference Room Contact: Derrick Mims 310/794-6826 1:00 p.m Community In Schools 8743 Burnet Avenue North Hills, CA 91343 Contact: Blinky Rodriguez 818/891-9399 1:00 p.m. Rita Walters Learning Center 915 West Manchester Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90044 Contact: Mark-Anthony Grant 323/789-4717 2:00 p.m. Korean American Coalition Pio Pico Library, Community Rm. 694 South Oxford Los Angeles, CA 90005 Contact: Eddie Kim 213/365-5999 2:30 p.m. Stop the Violence Increase the Peace 2930 West Imperial Inglewood, CA 90303 Contact: Dawn Osbourn-Shaw 323/777-4893 3:00 p.m. Los Angeles Southwest College Small Theatre 1600 Imperial Highway Los Angeles, CA Contact: Anthony Samad 323/993-5920 3:00 p.m. LA Bridges Audubon Middle School 4120 11th Avenue, Rm. 407 Los Angeles, CA 90008 Contact: Torre Reese 323/295-6571 ext. 3103 4:00 p.m. Mar Vista Family Center 5075 South Slauson Culver City, CA 90329 Contact: Lucia Diaz 310/390-9607 4:00 p.m. National Korean American Service & Education Consortium NAKASEC 900 South Crenshaw Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90019 Contact: Eunsook Lee 6:00 p.m. Dr. Ralph J. Bunch Peace and Heritage Center 1221 East 40th Place Los Angeles, CA 90011 Contact: Reginald Chapple 323/234-788 6:30 p.m. YWCA of Greater Los Angeles Compton 1600 East Compton Blvd. Compton, CA 90221 Contact: Sharon Shelton 310/763-9995 6:30 p.m. AGAPE International Spiritual Center 5700 Buckingham Pwky., Rm 2 Culver City, 90230 Contact: Rev. Cheryl Ward 310-489-2381 6:30 p.m. 48th Assembly District Empowerment Congress Crystal Stairs 650 West Adams Blvd Los Angeles, CA Contact: Grace Cainoy 323/421-2421 6:30 p.m. Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) 2845 West Seventh Street Los Angeles, CA 90005 Contact: Angela Sanbrano 213/385-7800 6:30 p.m. Omar Ibn Al Khattab Foundation 1025 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007 Contact: Dafer M. Dakhil 323/733-9938 .

Many thanks to Ms. Monica Harmon for providing us with this list, which we will continue to update if more locations for meetings become available.

Please keep checking back ...