Grand Opening Celebration for Olympic Area Community Police Station

WHAT:
The Grand Opening of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Olympic Division, the Department’s 20th Police Station.

WHEN:
Saturday
Jan. 17, 2009
10 a.m.

WHERE:
Olympic Area Community Police Station
1130 South Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA  90006

WHO:
Chief William J. Bratton
City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo
Councilman Ed Reyes, Council District 1
Councilman Herb Wesson, Council District 10
Councilman Tom LaBonge, Council District 4
Police Commissioner Anthony Pecheco
Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell, Chief of Staff
Assistant Chief Sharon Papa, Office of Support Services
Deputy Chief Terry Hara, Operations-West Bureau
Commander Debra McCarthy, Operations-West Bureau
Captain Matt Blake, Area Commanding Officer, Olympic Station
Captain Lenny Hundshamer, Patrol Commanding Officer, Olympic Station
Chief Engineer Gary Lee Moore
Mrs. Sharon Bruno, Proposition Q Oversight

WHY:
In March 2002, the voters in Los Angeles passed a $600 million public safety measure to improve, renovate and expand public safety facilities.

The Olympic Area Community Police Station houses 293 patrol officers, support staff and detectives and serves more than 200,000 people in 6.2 square miles.  Personnel that make up the division are as widely diverse as the community they serve, and with over 33 employees who are fluent in Korean, the station is certainly one of the top police facilities in the nation to have Korean-speaking representatives.

During the grand opening celebration, the media and community will have an opportunity to meet the men and women assigned to Olympic Station, witness the historic ribbon cutting ceremony, take a facility tour and enjoy cultural entertainment from the surrounding community.  Also included in the day’s festivities are activities for children, including static displays and demonstrations by some of the Department’s specialized units such as SWAT, K-9 and the Bomb Squad.  Guests attending the event will also be treated to a complimentary lunch provided by local food vendors.

CONTACT & PARKING:
For the media will be available at Two Guys Plaza located at 1001 Vermont Avenue.  Due to street closures for the event, it is recommended the media travel south on Menlo Avenue to 11th Street and turn right.  Then left on Vermont Avenue.  Members of the media are asked to arrive by 9:15 a.m.  For additional information, please contact Olympic Station Police Officer Douglass Hall at 213-382-9117 or contact the LAPD Media Relations Section at 213-485-3586.