Chief William J. Bratton's Welcome Message

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the LAPD Blog.  Our online journal is an interactive tool that we use to deliver real-time, unfiltered information.  We invite you to take a look inside the Department to learn more about the men and women in blue who have sworn to protect and to serve you.

By using this Blog, the LAPD hopes to maintain an open dialogue with the communities we serve and those who have an interest in the men and women of this organization.  We encourage you to express your opinions about current events through respectful and insightful discussion.  We reserve the right to refuse to post those comments that contain inappropriate language and/or material.  In the near future, we intend to expand our Blogging capabilities to all 19 Area Stations.

The continuing decline in crime in Los Angeles has positioned the LAPD at the tipping point for change.  Our influence can positively affect the communities we serve and vastly improve levels of public satisfaction.  But it is not enough for the LAPD to just continue to drive down crime.  Through compassionate and constitutional community policing practices, we want to enhance the relationship between the Los Angeles residents and police.

Our ultimate goal is for the role of law enforcement officials to evolve from distance protectors and rapid responders to true partners and conduits for meaningful social change.

Thank you for your support of the Los Angeles Police Department. Please visit our Blog again or visit www.lapdonline.org.

Comments

[harry]

@gloria -

what in the world are "nomad stalkers"? I just googled that term and got zero results. If something has never ever been mentioned on the web before, it seems unlikely it is an actualt thing.

Can you explain?

[Kurt - Hamburg]

Even in Old-Germany we have rekognized the start of your blogging.

- Welcome in the Blogosphere -

Sincerely, Kurt

[Mark Kahn]

Chief Bratton,

Congratulation on your blog. I am a former Los Angeles resident, who has enjoyed following the LAFD on their block since it's inception. I am glad to be able to follow the LAPD also.

I have never lost faith in your organization, or any police organization, and I commend you and your officers for the great job they do.

Thank you,

Mark,
Portland, OR

[Iverson Officer]

nice site :)

[LA Booster]

Chief Bratton,

When will LAPD start issuing CCW permits like almost every other big city in the US? Forty states in the US have gone shall-issue on CCWs. Shall-issue CCW has worked fine in big cities like Houston, Miami and Detroit and it will work fine in LA. It's time to end LA's practice of only issuing to VIPs.

[chris johnson]

I am so glad I moved out of CA.
Here in NV I can buy any gun I want.
I can carry my guns in my car and on my person.

Cops can not be everywhere at once and the criminals in CA know they have a huge supply of victims.

So good luck with your cesspool of crime, disease and victimhood.

[Human Being]

Hello,

Me and my brother were pulled over by an LAPD officer in the UCLA vacinity for a traffic stop. The officer did not give us any kind of a ticket. I have no way of knowing if it a real Cop or otherwise. In any event do your thing.

As I recall the SJPD gave us a ticket for flicking cigerette smoke out the window and then we went through the legal process. You know the rest.

Anonymous

[C Aguilar]

My comment is to "Ed" : regarding the LAPD turning away "Service Minded MilItary Men"...you mean "Men & Women" right? And while I've never been a cop, I know enough to say that being in the military doesn't automatically qualify you for a job in the LAPD.
Yes, having that experience can be useful but it shouldn't be the driving force when hiring. This I suspect is why some of those veterans are turned away. Do you have any facts or numbers to back your statement? Just curious.

[E. Juarez]

I am so glad to see LAPD reaching out to the community via the internet. I hope your site is accessable to the lausd kids as well. If not, I hope you find a way to reach the kids in our community. I think if your blog becomes known to teenagers as well, they will better understand the police officers and will be more free to communicate their concerns with the drugs and gang violence going on in their communities. Thank you, for keeping us informed.

[Matt Payne]

Chief, will you and the Mayor be addressng the fact that in the very near future, the Department will be loosing a lot of people with the drop program and not enough people are being hired to fill the holes. Raising trash collection fees to hire more officers won't fix the problem when those applicants still have to be signed off by the incompetents who are in place now. It's not the lack of good applicants, it's what happens to them once they get into the funnel of the hiring process...

[Frank Mayne]

Yes the 'blogosphere' welcomes you with open arms and warm hearts because we just can't wait to hear all about tales of bravery and heroic feats by your fine men (and women!) in uniform.

This is no real blog, it's in fact just a different format for the 'news' section on the original site. No doubt this blog is written by a lackey, most likely a sergeant, who is not entitled to his own views on the department and on current affairs. This blog has feedback from far and wide and yet there is no response to any reproaches or commendations made by the public. Obviously your blog is truly ground-breaking because at least ten people have said so, which makes it true.Perhaps you should contemplate channeling your efforts into more meaningful reforms - you have already failed to meet to Federal deadline Chief Bratton. You've repeatedly stated the need to improve the treatment of racial minorities during traffic stops, maybe you should revert to the chokeholds that made the LAPD so infamous back in the good ol' days.

[Anne]

I think Al Gore had the right idea during his Saturday Night Live skit, when he lamented about turning California over to Mexico. "I personally regret the loss of California. However, the new Mexifornian economy is strong and El Presidente Schwarzenegger is doing a great job."

[mary d.]

Hey Chief...you're the man! I am praying that this blog site will help create a small-town feeling in this vast metropolis. The LAPD has had a 'bad rap' for a long time. I remember Joe Friday once said that the reason there are a few bad cops is because you have to recruit from the human race.

[Bob Aquino]

Congratulations on the new blog.

I know I'm not the only one that feels this way, but I applaud the efforts of the sworn officers of this city. You truly are the thin blue line that stands between citizens like me and the savagery of the illegal underworld. Your bravery and selfless devotion to this underappreciated vocation are appreciated by far more people than you know.

[mary d]

Keep up the good work Chief!

[Shop Right]

We need to get rid of the nonsensical Special Order 40 ASAP!

[Valley Mike]

Hey Chief, great blog.

I wanted to draw you attention the that area north of town, where all of that new trash fee money will come from.

It's called the San Fernando Valley, and I know it will be a shock to you, but it is part of the city of Los Angeles! You really should come visit. And by the way, maybe you could send one or two of your officers out here once in a while?

Crime in the Valley in no lower than the rest of the city, so why are there fewer cops here than in the rest of the city.

[some1]

I agree with the other commenter that was complainging about CCW's. I don't live in the state of CA currently, and based on the way the CCW is so heavily restricted in CA, I probably never will.

People that go through the trouble of filling out all the forms, submitting to a background check, and taking weapons training courses are not the people you need to worry about carrying weapons. These are the people that you want armed, because an armed citizenry is a criminal deterrant.

The way it is now in CA, it seems that only the criminals have guns, since as we all know, criminals don't really care about the laws.

Stop making victims out of your citizens and start trusting them again!!!

[anonymous]

I am saddened by all the poor grammar exhibited by those posting comments.

[Anne]

Unfortunately, the SF Valley has always been the ugly stepchild of Los Angeles. Ironically, we pay most of the city's bills through higher property taxes, and our water usage is taxed differently. That was one of the issues a few years ago when we wanted to secede from the rest of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, they let everyone in Los Angeles vote on it, instead of the people who it would affect, those of us who live in the Valley. So the issue of fewer police officers and less city services has always been with us. The rest of LA gets the lion's share of it all. Another irony is that 'the Valley' is often viewed as some rich white enclave. That hasn't been the demographic out here for a very long time. There's more of an ethnic mix in the Valley than anywhere else in Los Angeles.

[david@gbgllc.net]

Dear Chief, I was re-directed to you from ABC7's web site. I think it's a great idea that LAPD has a blog where LA can speak to you freely and share concerns live. I am in OC but have clients is LA too. Good luck

[Danny]

As a native of Los Angeles I am so very suprised each time I come home for a vist. The city has cleaned up so much and everyone is shifting to a more community based mantra, shunning the widespread stereotype that LA is a disconnected grid of smog. I praise LAPD for making an honest attempt to connect with the people it serves and protects. It's pretty darn cool!

[Robert]

I congratulate the LAPD on making this bold move into the information age. I think this new concept will make the public that are being protected by the LAPD more accepting. With this being said, this gives the public a way to vent any issues and let others know what they think without backlash. i thin this is a bold move and I think it will be test of the nature of the "net"

[Coyote Osborne]

While I am delighted to see that the LAPD has stepped up to the plate and joined the blogosphere, my initial impression is that it is more like a police blotter/announcement sheet where people can leave comments, than an actual blog where people's comments are responded to.

Now, I suspect that it would be rather difficult to set aside the time and personell to respond to every, or even most comments or questions, and that there are other demands on LAPD's resources.

However, I am concerned that this could be a simple PR "Spin" sheet that doesn't actually address concerns raised by people posting on it. I don't know that it's realistic to expect that it will or even can.

While it is great that so many people are responding, I'm not seeing what I'd consider discussion or responsiveness.

[Thomas Moore]

It's good to see a Feedback Forum, Although for to many this will be nothing more than a "Steam Outlet" To vent whatever happen's to be bothering them at the moment.In My Opinion,Police of any Department take way to much heat. It is the Usual "Why Didn't you?/Why Did you?" type of Critic That serve's no purpose Whatsoever.I just hope people That Choose to use this type of "Sounding Board" are willing to be part of the Solution Rather than part of the Problem. We have enough of those Already!