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Alisa
N. Smith serves as the Co-coordinator for the Youth and Education
Committee in the newly formed Glassell Park Neighborhood Council.
Now a mother of two, Alisa herself grew up in a family of
activists. She remembers being in a stroller when her mother
attended Central Park protests on the Vietnam War in New York
City, where she grew up.
As Ms. Smith says, "I became involved with the LA's Neighborhood
Council process over a year ago and am convinced I was handed
the responsibility of organizing the Youth and Education Committee
simply because I have been a parent for 14 years."
.. ..Feel
free to suggest topics, express an opinion or give LA
Community Policing your ideas about Youth and Senior issues.
Email your questions and comments on
Community Policing for Youth to:
Alisa N. Smith
youth@LACP.org
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Email your questions and comments on
Community Policing for Seniors to:
Anne Marie Lardeau
seniors@LACP.org
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In
1992, Anne Marie Lardeau thought the best way to start giving
back to her community was to become an LAPD Reserve Officer.
At the age of 44, she entered the gates of the Police Academy
in Elysian Park with a sense of purpose. As a sworn officer
with a civilian heart, she was soon drawn to community policing
and was awarded the Police Distinguished Service Medal in 1995
for her work on domestic violence.
That year, she was invited as a civilian to join the Rampart
C-PAB to focus on family violence issues. As a Reserve Officer
she also served a year in the LAPD Community-Policing Group
where she was responsible for putting together a team to design
and test a Community-Police Problem Solving (CPPS) course for
community groups.
In 1996, Anne Marie joined the Hollywood
C-PAB where she has been an active member ever since. The
need for a community-policing approach to address problems affecting
seniors and their families became apparent: "I never meant to
do this but I had never seen a larger void or a bigger need.
For me it was and still is a moral obligation to get involved
and protect vulnerable seniors." Dealing with elder abuse meant
dealing with County agencies such as Adult Protective Services
and the service areas had to be expanded.
That meant the creation in 1998 of a Multi-Disciplinary Team
(MDT) now serving the Greater Hollywood and Metro areas of Los
Angeles. Ms. Lardeau still co-chairs the LA
Metro MDT and also publishes the LA4Seniors
Website to promote elder abuse prevention and increase community
awareness of services available for seniors and their families.
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