Meeting of the minds: Chief wants pubic input
POLICE HDQTRS. — In the wake of a recent midday shooting in front of a Santa Monica school, Police Chief James T. Butts Jr. this week reaffirmed his long-standing commitment to fighting crime while strengthening ties to the community.
Butts pointed to his “ N e i g h b o r h o o d - C e n t e r e d Policing” model, which puts each of the city’s major neighborhoods under the personal watch of high-ranking police officers with the knowledge and power to affect change. The officers meet regularly with community members and groups, and return to meet monthly with the police department’s command staff, which reassigns resources as needed.
“For 13 years, I have been a leader of action in this community,” said Butts, who has been under heightened observation from some residents since the non-fatal school shooting. “For 13 years, this department has worked on a daily basis at planning, strategizing and engaging the community, and improving public safety — and most importantly, our relationship with the people we serve.”
After hearing from a half-dozen frightened and angry mothers ear-lier this month, the City Council agreed to hold a special meeting or series of meetings to address the ongoing gang-violence problem. Some council members also criticized Butts, saying residents and elected leaders ought to know more about his neighborhood-based strategy.
Butts this week said his department will press ahead with the work it’s doing, pointing out Santa Monica has seen a 62-percent drop in crime over the last 10 years and another 10-percent drop this year alone. Though he hadn’t been asked to attend the special meetings on gang violence, Butts said he would if invited.
“It would be incongruent to think that, as a result of the complaints at one council meeting, that that would evoke a sea change in the operation of the department,” Butts said. “The reality is that we continue to plan, strategize and engage the community. We continue to meet with groups large and small, and we continue to forge relationships with all of the stakeholders in the community...
“We’ll meet with anyone, anytime, anyplace about anything that has to do with their personal safety, but that’s nothing new,” the chief added, during an interview also attended by two SMPD lieutenants. “It serves no purpose whatsoever to take personally discourse of any type. I accept and listen to any criticism, no matter how vociferous it’s type, in a constructive manner. A public argument serves no one well.”
“Neighborhood-Centered Policing,” formally introduced by Butts in November of 2002, is a cooperative style of policing that allows police officers to focus on prevention and intervention before turning to enforcement. The key components of the policing model call for two or three lieutenants to be responsible for each major section of the city. The theory is that high-ranking officials have the knowledge and power to take direct action. The lieutenants meet monthly with Butts to reallocate resources as needed.
“I think that’s really the beauty of the neighborhood-centered policing philosophy, is that it’s flexible enough that it includes all different homogenous sections of the community,” SMPD Lt. Phillip Sanchez said. “In practical form, neighborhood-centered policing is not competitive, it’s cooperative.”
Also central to community based police work are police substations in particular neighborhoods and bicycle patrols that get officers out on the streets, interacting with residents and merchants. There are currently bike patrols operating out of substations in the Pico neighborhood, downtown and on the Santa Monica Pier.
Butts said the department will continue to expand its outreach programs and meet with members of the community. Though the council directed the department earli-er this month to improve its rapport with residents, the council apparently was acting beyond its power. According to the city charter, only City Manager Susan McCarthy can direct department heads, and she said there was no need to do that.
“I rarely have to direct city department heads,” McCarthy wrote in an e-mail this week. “They hold their positions because they are smart, skilled and sensitive. Like his colleagues, the chief wants the best for the community and he heard the council members and residents who spoke... at the last meeting. We’re working as a city team to deliver on the objective we set last year to improve conditions in the Pico neighborhood.”
The council next month will discuss when to hold the special meetings or workshops to address gang violence. In the meantime, Butts plans to continue his department’s work to address the ongoing gang problems in the Pico neighborhood, which Butts attributed to about 70 gang members, 15 to 20 of which he labeled as “hard-core” gang members who regularly fan violence with neighboring gangs.
Butts pointed to a city sponsored poll that showed support for the police department in recent years has been consistently above 76 percent. He also named several community and religious leaders, saying he and the police department have a strong track record and broad support throughout Santa Monica.
Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson from St. Monica Parish admitted he wasn’t familiar with Butts’ community based policing strategy, but added he’s respected Butts since he first came to town 13 years ago.
“I’ve known him since he began as the chief of police in Santa Monica, and I’ve always found him to be a man of integrity and a man who’s responded to the needs of this community,” Torgerson said. “Whenever I’ve asked for any kind of support in this community... he’s responded. He’s generous and he’s very attentive.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 27, 2004. Read the original PDF.