officers - The Black Vault

~·350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
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;Foothill boosts ranks
of minority Officers
iBy Jaxon Van Derbeken 'April2l, said Assistant ChiefRo-
·f!ai/y News Staff Writer
;bert Vernon.
, • The transfers are not related to
: PACOIMA- About fifteen 1 the March 3 beating of black mo­
;police officers, including four mi- · 1
torist Rodney ~i~g by Foothill
-~nority supervisors, are being jofficers, Vernon said.
•transferred to the Foothill Divi- "I am trying to bring in
ision to strengtheri community :strength to certain areas," Ver­
~ties and balance the division's :non said, adding that he did not
!ethnicity officials said Tuesday.
1 know the ethnicity of all the in­
~ One biack lieutenant and three coming officers. "We need to
:minority sergeants already have 'have a little more ethnic and ex-
:been moved to Foothill, and 10 . p~rience mix " -
;or 11 additional officers will be As of November, Foothill had
!transferred to the division by 244 officers. There were 179 white
· . - officers, 51 Hispanics, 10 blacks,
two Asians and two American Indians
on the force, he said. ··
According to 1990 census figures,
the ·communities of Sylmar, Pacoima,
Sunland Tujunga and Lake
View Terrace 'are composed of
about 51 percent Hispanic residents,
37 percent white, almost 7
percent black and 3.6 percent
Asians and Pacific Islanders.
Vernon said that the department
recognized the ethnic imbalance in
Foothill and other divisions in
1990 and had started taking steps
before the King incident.
Most of the officers being transferred
out of the division are white
m~l~. and~ one of t~~iil.c?mi~~ sergeants
is a white female, Vernon
said. One of the new sergeants is
Hispanic and comes from the Devonshire
division and another sergeant
is black, Vernon said. . ',
Among the officers leaving ~thill
is Sgt. Robert Ontiveros: who·
testified before the grand jury that
indicted four Foothill officer-S in
the beatil)g_ofK.ing, police ~id.
One of the new sergeants is Sgt.
Pete Weinhold, a former senior patrol
.officer for the Pacoima area
who is returning to Foothill to serve
as a community relations liaison.
"I've assigned him to community
relations, he's out there working
out plans in the community," said
Capt. Tim McBride, commander of
the Foothill Division.
Vernon gave Deputy Chief Mark
Kroeker the a!J.thoritv _to bring in
DAILY NEWS
Date: WED. APRIL 3 1991
Edition:Front Sectio~, Page 1
FOOTHILL BOOSTS RANKS
Trti!QF MINORITY OFFICERS
Character:
or
Classification:
Submitting Office: 8 0-3 3 B
IDS ANGELES
lnd~f!EO
SERIAUZEO
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APR 1 0 1991
FBI - LOS ANGELES f
offic rs with "cm .. l"il col ;nJ, /if' I
dealing with the community. "They
just know how to deal with people -­
good," Vernon said of the skills the
department is looking for at Foothill.
"We would like to have a little
better ethnic representation of the
community," said McBride. "I've
been able to make some selections
this time I would ordinarily not be
able to do."
Vernon said that ·efforts to draw
• minority officerS to Foothill were
.. slowed by black officers who do not
'/ ·want to make the long commute to
the Valley.
"They saip it would bring a hard-.
. ~Jt)p upon them," he said. "We're
·'·going to have a better ethnic mix,
. regardless of the hardship., '
. More transfers will be effective
over the next months as part· of the
long-term rebalancing of the divi-
' · sion, Vernon ~id. _ .
Also Tuesday, the newly formed
African American Peace Officers
' Association charged that racial
prejudice is widespread in the department.
· · "Silence is complicity, and we
have agreed to break that silence·
in an effort to gain the community's
trust and support," said Carl
McGill, president of the organiza-
,.tion. He said his organi.zation
pledges, "from this day forward, to
~ disclose any violations of the police
. officer's code of ethics."
McGill called for civilian control
of department facilities, civilian review
boards for police misconduct
and psychological screening of offi-
FBI/DOJ