Annual School Safety Program

LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT
PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, September 27, 2000

"Annual School Safety Program"

Los Angeles – The fall semester for Los Angeles Unified School District students has begun. Once again this year, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), will offer a School Safety Program meeting. Similar meetings have been held in the past in order to ensure the safety of school children.

The School Safety Program was successfully initiated in the fall of 1988. The education of our children is an essential function of government and the community. Both State law and moral imperative demand that government and the community provide safe school conditions under which children can focus on their educational curriculum. Students who are subjected to danger on campus or in transit to and from school are unable to make full use of the educational opportunities afforded to them. Our students must be able to pursue their education in peace and safety. To this end, the LAPD and LAUSD are totally committed.

Criminal activity on and near school campuses is a very real problem, not just for law enforcement and the schools, but for the entire community. Murders, assaults, robberies, narcotics and gang activity often occur near school campuses. The time has come for law enforcement, schools, and the community to take a proactive approach in helping to provide a safe environment for our children. The School Safety Program will utilize the efforts of the LAPD and the LAUSD, and several other agencies, in providing a safe environment for the children of Los Angeles not only as they return to school but throughout the entire school year.

In order to prepare for this year’s program, a meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, September 28, 2000, at 10:00 a.m., at the Los Angeles Police Academy Lounge, 1880 N. Academy Drive, Los Angeles.

Chief of Police Bernard Parks will represent the LAPD at this meeting. School Board President Genethia Hudley Hayes will be representing the LAUSD. Additionally, Mayor Richard Riordan, Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski, and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca have been invited to attend.

Chief Parks and Ms. Hayes will discuss programs that will be utilized this school year, e.g., Safe School Plan, Threat Assessment Teams, School Cars, Safe House Program, etc., to help prevent violence on and near school campuses.

For further information, contact Detective Steve Carey, Juvenile Division, at 213-485-2803.

For Release 1:00 pm PDT
September 27, 2000