Community Police Academy Class Speech
October 1, 2002
by Bobbie J. Logan

What is was like …

My interest is volunteering goes back a ways, and maybe, you could argue, I was born into it.

My mother was a political and social activist, a hippy really, and in my elementary school years she dragged me off to many a peace rally and protest march for a variety of reasons … the Vietnam War, Civil Rights, the polluting of the environment.

Perhaps that infected me. As an adult, I have continued her legacy.

In my twenties I worked with Travelers Aid of Long Beach, assisting the homeless, and helping them find better lives. An avid horseman, I later rode with the Walnut Sheriff's Volunteer Posse and the El Monte Police Department's Mounted Patrol.

But my busy life took me away from the Southland, when I moved to San Francisco.

What happened …

I moved back to Los Angeles last year where I met Bill Murray, a community policing advocate and activist who I'm sure many of you know. Our first few dates were … well … kind of interesting. Early on he began to drag me to an odd assortment of strange events in other parts of town … meetings with unusual names … things like "Basic Car" and "Consent Decree" (whatever THOSE were).

Eventually, I began to attend the local Neighborhood Watch meetings in Montecito Heights, where I met our Senior Lead Officer, Rich Rodriguez. It impressed me … the interaction between Rich and the members of the community.

Early this year I was invited to attend a Hollenbeck C-PAB sub-committee meeting where members were gathered to address a rising homicide rate in the Boyle Heights and Lincoln Heights neighborhoods. This intimate introduction to the C-PAB system was unique, and the passion of the members left quite an impression on me. Even more impressive was to observe the eventual results from those meetings.

Among other things, for the first time Operation-Central Bureau's commanding officer Deputy Chief Margaret York invited four members of the C-PAB to her offices downtown. Together with her assistant, Commander Lee Carter, the group brainstormed about how to stop the violence. This was the beginning of a unique and close relationship still shared between members of the community and the command staff at Central Bureau.

I subsequently attended the Police Commission itself, during an exciting time when the decision was being made as to the status of Chief, and I began to see that the community does have a voice … an important voice … and that community involvement is truly effective.

During this time Bill decided to launch the Los Angeles Community Policing forum, and a website devoted to advocating community policing. Intended to be a much smaller venture, the community response was nearly overwhelming.

So, I joined him, as eventually did others.

LACP quickly blossomed, becoming a full time endeavor … and eventually Los Angeles Community Policing became a non-profit organization (and currently non-funded … donations anyone?).

The group, and its website, advocate and report on many aspects of community based policing specifically, and community involvement in government in general.

Shortly after the birth of the website, I joined the Hollenbeck C-PAB and attended my first C-PAB Summit. It was wonderful to discover there were people from all over the City interested and involved in cooperative partnerships with the Department.

These have been interesting times, to say the least, and a lot has gone on …

In June, I helped organize the first "United Communities to Stop Violence" event at Bravo High School, designed as a community dialogue where the discussion surrounded the issues of gangs and drugs. The second of these ongoing events is coming up on October 19th where the topic will be "Parenting, Youth and Families; raising a community." We'd LOVE everyone here tonight to attend!

As the search for our next Chief proceeded, Bill and I attended each of the seven community criteria meetings around the City. Somehow I got "assigned" to write a report on each of them. Imagine my surprise when the Police Commission asked us to provide them a combined printed copy of my work. It ran to about 35 pages!

What it's like now …

Now I'm a full partner in Los Angeles Community Policing. Our advocacy group serves the entire Los Angeles area, and includes stakeholders from across the city. Community members, government officials, police officers, and business owners … all participate in the forum at LACP.org.

It was with great pleasure that I attended this Community Police Academy class, so that I could understand the structure and policies of LAPD a little more. I have come to a deeper appreciation of the service provided by the Department. And if, in any small way, I can help the officers perform their duties, then I will certainly do everything I can.

I would like to thank Central Bureau for offering the community such a great program … for the many hours spent sharing with us your expertise, experience and knowledge … and for the invaluable time the various officers, detectives and command staff personnel sacrificed. We are grateful you have shared with us even a small part of what you know.

I would also like to thank, on behalf of all the students of the Community Police Academy, both Officer Mary and Sgt. Russell for the hard work and care they have put into making this program such a success for all of us. There were days when I would see Sgt. Russell or Officer Mary at 9 AM in the morning, then see them again well past 9 o'clock PM that same day. Thank you again, for your many tireless hours.

My fellow classmates and I attended this academy for many different reasons, and arrived from different regions of the City. Each of us was diverse in his, or her, own way. But we were bound together in the desire to bring public safety to our neighborhoods, our kids … our community.

In this shared experience we've learned a lot.

I've no doubt we will take with us a much deeper appreciation for the service of our LAPD officers… and the knowledge we need to move forward as partners in this great and important adventure … keeping the streets of Los Angeles safe, and improving the quality of life.

Thank you ...