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LOCAL NEWS & INFORMATION
UPDATED : September 2, 2010
MONTEBELLO - Val, an Urban Search and Rescue canine with the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, is retiring after 11 years of service and countless rescue missions. During his career, with owner and handler Capt. Marc Valentine of the Montebello Fire Department, Val has trained other rescue dogs, searched for survivors through rubble, and offered solace to firefighters responding to Hurricane Katrina. The golden Labrador mix, which is five months shy of 13, will retire in October, and Rico, a 3-year-old Lab nearing the completion of his training program, will take over. Rico, Val's apprentice, is two months shy from his Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) certification, and giving his mentor a well-deserved break. Val took on many roles beyond the duties of rescue dog during his career. Five years ago, when Val and Valentine were in New Orleans searching for survivors, Val offered firefighters companionship. Val and Rico were donated to the Montebello Fire Department by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, and are two of 225 dogs in the United States trained for rescue response. Val and Rico work, eat, sleep and play at the Montebello fire station with firefighters during Valentine's shifts. Val and Rico were rescued and trained through The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. The organization was founded in 1996, after a need for canine response was made apparent to founder Wilma Melville during the Oklahoma bombing rescue efforts. The foundation is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization based in Ojai, and all of the dogs selected for its program are rescued from shelters and other agencies.
UPDATED : August 29, 2010
MONTEREY PARK - Monterey Park's firefighters are
responding to calls in Montebello nearly six times for every
time Montebello helps in Monterey Park, and Monterey Park
officials want some answers. The two cities are part of the
Verdugo System, an 11-department dispatch center. In May,
Montebello officials closed Station 57 on the city's west side
to cut back on
UPDATED : August 25, 2010
MONTEBELLO - Fire Department response times have slowed, and the chief said it could be because budgetary constraints have forced a station closure on the city's west side. According to the Verdugo Communication System's quarterly analysis, Montebello Fire in April, May and June had the slowest average responses of the system's 11 departments, and only arrived on-scene in 5 minutes or fewer 41 percent of the time. While the ten other departments in the dispatching system had average response times of 4 minutes and 23 seconds Montebello averaged 5 minutes and 38 seconds, according to Verdugo System analysts. National guidelines set a goal of arriving at a call within five minutes of dispatch. Facing a $4 million general fund shortfall, Montebello officials cut firefighter overtime, and Station 57 was out of service for part of May and June. The station off Beverly Boulevard and Garfield Avenue has been used sporadically since July 1, depending on monthly overtime costs.
UPDATED : August 21, 2010
EL SEGUNDO - Although a final decision is still months away, in a somewhat surprising turn of events, the El Segundo City Council unanimously agreed that it didn’t want to move toward merging its Fire Department with the county’s. In a receive and file motion, the City Council voted 4-1 to table the negotiations with the Los Angeles County Fire District for another 90 days but directed staff to not factor in the financial benefits of annexing the department with the county when working on the budget. Discussions to annex the city’s Fire Department began almost a year ago when the then City Council directed staff to research the possibility in order to save money. After the county presented a feasibility study and posted it on the city’s Web site, it was well known that a merger would save the city more than $5 million, but that the city would be relequishing much of its independence. Emotions ran high on all sides of the issue. The public seemed split in its opinion with some residents expressing disdain at the thought of losing their department, while others, including El Segundo’s Fire Chief Kevin Smith, stated that although it would be a loss, the best option for the city is to go county.
POMONA - There's not going to be a new sheriff in town — for now. Three weeks after the Pomona Police Department's rank and file gathered at a beer-distribution company on the city's gritty south side and approved a labor contract that further slashed its budget, the Pomona City Council dropped its threat to dissolve the century-old department and contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The successive moves by the Pomona Police Officers Association, which voted 117 to 18 to cut its budget from $45 million to $37 million, and the City Council, which then voted 7 to 0 to drop the Sheriff's Department from consideration, pulled this battered city back from what promised to be a civic war over the fate of the police force. The Pomona City Council was raiding its financial reserves even during the so-called "good years" of the chimerical housing bubble, spending more than $11 million in emergency money from 2004 to 2008, leaving the city with less than $2 million in its reserve today against general-fund obligations of almost $80 million. The pain has been mostly shared across city departments, with one glaring exception: the Los Angeles County Fire Department in Pomona, which has seen its budget rise over the last three years, from $22.7 million to $23.2 million. In contrast, the Pomona Police Department had its budget hacked, from $49.5 million in 2008 to just more than $37 million this year. That disparity has caused the police to allege that the county fire department, with which Pomona has contracted since the mid-1990s for fire services, has either charmed or intimidated the council into submission — or both.
LOS ANGELES - City and Fire Department officials face opposition from organized labor and some City Council members over a proposal to contract out billing and collections for the Los Angeles Fire Department's emergency medical services. The proposed outsourcing of collections is bundled with a popular initiative to move to electronic collection of medical data by the Fire Department's emergency medical services unit. The proposal would give paramedics hand-held tablet computers on which they would input patient medical information at the scene of an emergency, eliminating the current system of hand-printed forms that department staff called cumbersome and prone to transcription errors. The computers would allow Fire Department personnel to check hospital bed availability and transmit information about a patient's condition to hospital staff electronically, as well as store billing information. The two-part proposal includes a $10-million, six-year contract with Scanhealth Inc., better known as Sansio, for the computer system. Under a separate six-year contract, the city would pay Advanced Data Processing Inc. up to 5.5% of net collections revenue to handle billing and collections. The city projected a net revenue increase of about $11 million over six years under the plan. The Fire Department billed $151 million for emergency medical services in the 2009 fiscal year but collected only $58 million. The outsourcing of collections would eliminate 49 clerical positions in the Emergency Medical Services unit, although city officials said the staff would be transferred to vacant positions in the Fire Department rather than being laid off. The unit has struggled to collect fees for ambulance rides and other emergency services. An audit released two weeks ago by City Controller Wendy Greuel - on the same day the city laid off more than 200 employees - showed that the city collected only 53% of its bills in the 2009 fiscal year, amounting to an annual loss of $260 million. Emergency Medical Services fared worse, collecting 38% of the money owed. The digitizing of medical records would help bring the city into compliance with the federal government's goal of creating electronic health records for all Americans by 2014.
PASADENA - Two months after being passed over for the top job in the Pasadena Police Department, Deputy Chief Chris Vicino announced Thursday he'll retire from the department to take a job as assistant chief in Riverside. The 25-year veteran of law enforcement is scheduled to start there at the beginning of September. The Riverside department serves 350,000 residents and has more than 400 sworn police officers and 200 civilian employees. It patrols a geographical area that spans 80 square miles. Vicino worked his way up through the ranks while serving in virtually every division in the Pasadena department. He was hired as a police officer in 1985 and was promoted six times before Melekian appointed him deputy chief in 2006.
UPDATED : August 14, 2010
REDONDO BEACH - A potential civil lawsuit claiming possible lead exposure from a Redondo Beach police firing range is gaining momentum as more plaintiffs are jumping on board the possible multi-million dollar suit. The city is no stranger to controversy involving the 63-year-old firing range, which is located in the city’s Parks and Recreation maintenance yard on the north side of Beryl Street, bordered to the north and west by Dominguez Park and south by Towers Elementary School in Torrance. In a July 30, 2008, report, the Department of Toxic Substances Control alleged the Police Department violated state codes after hundreds of bullet fragments from its firing range were reportedly found in the surrounding neighborhood and school. According to some of the findings in the report, DTSC scientists found fragments on rooftops of various buildings including kindergarten classrooms and seven fragments in a sand play area of Dominguez Park. Some residents have stated they are not happy with the City Council’s response to their concerns about lead exposure.
UPDATED : August 5, 2010
EL SEGUNDO - In a couple of weeks the El Segundo City Council will make a multimillion-dollar decision - whether to move from an independently operated fire department to one operated by the Los Angeles County Fire District. In the meantime, the council would like to hear from residents. For the last several weeks, the city has posted an agenda item advertising the city’s possible plan to transition from its own city fire department to one that works with the LACoFD. However, residents haven’t had much to say. With just two meetings left before the decision is made, the City Council would like to know how residents feel about saying goodbye to their department for the next 10 years. Talks of the transition started in December when the city realized it would be facing an $8 million deficit in the 2010-11 fiscal year. Because emergency services consumes a large chunk of the city’s expenditures, city staff began exploring ways to stave off serious debt. First and foremost what it will mean to the city is a cost savings of about $5.5 million. The price tag of El Segundo’s Fire Department is $15.7 million. However, under Los Angeles County, the price would drop 50 percent to $10.2 million. However, according to LACoFD Chief Michael Freeman, safety doesn’t come at the expense of saving money. In a letter written by Freeman to El Segundo Fire Chief Kevin Smith, Freeman indicated that the city’s fire safety needs could adequately be taken care of with 50 percent less than the number of staff it currently works with. This cutback would result in a 12-person full-time department rather than the current 19 full-time staff it has now. According to the feasibility study posted on El Segundo’s Web site, the county suggests that the district would staff Fire Station No. 1 with a three-person paramedic assessment engine and a two-person paramedic squad, and Fire Station No. 2 with a three-person paramedic assessment engine and a four-person truck apparatus. The minimum term of an annexation agreement between El Segundo and LACoFD would be 10 years. Because the department would be taken over by L.A. County it would also be responsible for helping other neighboring L.A. County-run departments such as Hawthorne, Lennox and Del Aire. According to the report, these cities would benefit from the proximity of Fire Station No. 2. In addition, because truck companies’ jurisdictions cover a larger area than the first-in engine, the truck assigned to City Station No. 2 would significantly enhance the level of truck service available. Also, according to the report, as a result of the partnering departments, response times in El Segundo would be equal to or better than the existing response times, since some areas of the city may be closer to a neighboring fire station.
UPDATED : July 12, 2010
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Police Department will have about 300 video cameras in its patrol cars by the end of summer after years of delay in adopting the technology. The cameras will be installed in cars patrolling the department's South Bureau, which encompasses many of the city's grittier neighborhoods. It's been nearly four years since the City Council approved $5 million for the first set of cameras that will be installed over the next few months. Some observers say the cameras will help hold the department more accountable and could clear officers of unfounded allegations such as racial profiling. Officials say it would cost about $25 million to have all of the department's 1,600 cars equipped with cameras.
ARCADIA - The Arcadia Police Department has become the latest West San Gabriel Valley law enforcement agency to begin posting information about crimes in online maps. The department has now teamed up with the website CrimeMapping.com to provide residents with timely information about crime in their community. Incidents generally appear on the website one day after they occur. The Arcadia Police Department is the fifth area law enforcement agency to team up with this service. The Pasadena and San Gabriel Police Departments also post information on CrimeMapping.com, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department as well as the Sierra Madre Police Department partner with a similar website called CrimeReports.com. San Marino and South Pasadena police provide their own crime maps on their department websites, though the statistics may be more than a month old.
UPDATED : July 9, 2010
LOS ANGELES COUNTY - Fire Camp 9, located in the mountains above Santa Clarita, celebrated a 40-year anniversary celebration on June 26 in which some 300-400 people attended to enjoy a tri-tip steak barbeque meal and talk about the valued history of the camp. Back in 1970, the land making up current-day Camp 9 was a dilapidated military base. Department leaders, recognizing the value of helicopters to deliver firefighters to wildland fires on initial attack, purchased the land from the federal government and converted it into the headquarters of our helicopter fly crew program, making our Department the first such agency in the nation to use helicopters to deliver firefighters to wildland fires on initial attack. Today, the crews at Camp 9 are made up of 25 Fire Suppression Aides, three Foremen, and current Superintendant Jon Meramble. Over 200 FCL/FSA’s from Camp 9 have proudly moved on in the fire service to many different fire departments across the western states.
REDONDO BEACH - After continuing negotiations over the past two weeks, the Police Officers Association and Redondo Beach city officials came to a tentative agreement Tuesday that will potentially save six police officers’ jobs. The concessions, that still have to be approved by members of the POA, include a 6-percent pay cut. The Redondo Beach City Council approved a $99 million balanced budget that bridged a $7.2 million shortfall at its June 22 meeting. The budget was balanced through $3.7 million in cuts and another $3.5 million in concessions from the Teamsters to firefighters to city employees. The only group that had not reached an agreement with the city was the POA. Without the agreement with the POA, layoffs at the Police Department were going to be approved by the City Council at Tuesday’s meeting. Though City Manager Bill Workman appeared confident the POA members will approve the agreement, if not, the City Council could come back at its July 20 meeting and approve the layoffs if an agreement is not reached.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY - The LACoFD Fleet Services Division has just completed its final inspection of the first of 15 new pumpers manufactured for the Department by Kovatch Mobile Equipment (KME) at the company’s plant in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania. The final inspections of the engines are part of a series of inspections conducted throughout the term of the manufacturing contract. While the first set of inspections focused on making sure that components met Department specifications, the recent set were conducted to test the capacities of the pump and engine. The pumpers feature clean idle, fuel efficient diesel engines, a 250-GPM booster pump for improved pump and roll performance, conductivity-based foam systems that are accurate from 10 to 1,000-GPM and off-highway-rated rear air suspensions. The engines also have 70-gallon fuel capacities, which are a 20-gallon increase from previous units. They are equipped with a full L.E.D. emergency lighting system, and an innovative hose bed cover designed by LACoFD, which has caught the interest of other agencies and has begun to be specified by them. The new design mitigates potential lifting injuries and damage related to high winds or striking objects if the housing is mistakenly left open. The first pumper will go into service by early October and the remainder will be delivered within six-to-eight-months of the first delivery. Three of the 15 pumpers purchased are new apparatus for the opening of Fire Stations 93, 108 and 136, which are currently operating using reserve apparatus.
UPDATED : July 1, 2010
MAYWOOD - Instead of declaring bankruptcy, Maywood officials decided to outsource all city functions starting July 1. Maywood's carrier, the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, dropped it earlier this month in part because of several police-related claims. The city can't have any staff because it can't get liability or worker's compensation insurance for them. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will patrol the streets, while the neighboring city of Bell will cover other city functions, such as staffing City Hall. Maywood already relies on contract workers and outsources many city services. The director of parks and recreation, for instance, is a contractor, and the city's lights, landscaping and street sweeping are handled by private companies. Los Angeles County maintains the library and fire department. Some of Maywood's 96 employees -- which include 41 police officers -- will also continue as contract workers. Elected officials, such as the city council and the city clerk, will remain on the job in the 1.5-square-mile municipality, which has about 45,000 residents. Maywood is billing itself as the first American city to outsource all of its city services. In an odd twist, officials say it can provide even better services because the shift will help it save money and close a $450,000 shortfall in its $10 million general fund budget. For instance, the contract with the sheriff's department costs about half of the more than $7 million spent annually to maintain the Maywood police department.
PASADENA - Firefighters' response times could increase with the suspension of a four-person ladder company taken out of service as part of the city's spending cuts. The ladder company based at Fire Station 32, has been taken out of service for the remainder of this month and for at least 160 days of the fiscal year that begins July 1. Pasadena Fire Department Chief Dennis Downs said the suspension will likely increase response times to some emergencies, particularly on the eastern side of the city. The suspension will save the city $125,000 for the remainder of the current fiscal year, and $725,000 in fiscal year 2011. However, he said the city's insurer has told the department that it ideally should have three ladder companies in service to handle emergencies. The Fire Department savings will come from not having to pay four firefighters to staff the ladder company, which is usually staffed by firefighters working beyond their regular shifts. No firefighters were laid off. On Red Flag fire warning days, or days where there is a flood risk, the city will likely put the ladder company back into service.
PASADENA - Santa Monica Deputy Police Chief Phil
Sanchez was officially announced as Pasadena's next police
chief. The 53-year-old Sanchez lives in Fullerton and has worked
for the Santa Monica Police Department his entire career. He
will start work in Pasadena on July 11. Sanchez served in a
number of divisions within the Santa Monica Police Department,
developing its Special Entry Team, the city's version of SWAT.
He also worked in the department's internal affairs office.
Sanchez graduated in 2009 from the Naval Postgraduate School,
Center for Homeland Defense and Security with a master's degree
in security studies. We wrote and published several articles on
the use of deadly force and how it affects police
UPDATED : May 28, 2010
LOS ANGELES - Some 25 Los Angeles city firefighters and mechanics protested on Friday the city budget cuts that call for layoffs and furloughs within the city. Firefighters used a press conference held at the Avenue 19 maintenance facility downtown as a warning that any cuts would hurt the city's day-to-day emergency preparedness. The city of Los Angeles is proposing 700 to 1,800 layoffs citywide and drastic cuts to city services to close a $485 million deficit. Firefighters say that these cuts would lead to a manpower shortage, fewer emergency vehicles on the road, and delays to repairs of other vehicles. Delays could add up to 30 days of repair time in the worst cases. Firefighters say that the rate for reserve fleet vehicles that are out-of-service could be as high as 70 percent. According to the Mayor's proposed budget, it specifically cuts nearly $3.8 million from the fund for procurement, maintenance, and repair services in the department. But the budget also adds $353,322 funds that will be available for worker salaries which could help with the current hiring freeze.
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Police Department is closing four evidence rooms to save money. Closing evidence storage facilities at the L.A.P.D.’s Newton, Wilshire, West Valley and North Hollywood stations means officers must drive farther to book property they collect at the scene of a crime. The department’s also cut overtime — resulting in the removal of the equivalent of nearly 300 officers from the streets. That means homicide detectives who often work long hours chasing leads have been forced to take days off. The city council said the department must shoulder its share of a nearly $500 million budget deficit. Some on the council have argued for more cuts at the L.A.P.D., which has been allowed to maintain a force of just under 10,000 officers.
UPDATED : May 3, 2010
MONTEBELLO - With reserves tapped out, the city is facing a $4 million budget shortfall. So far this fiscal year, from July 1 to the end of March, police & fire personnel have earned more than $2.8 million in overtime. The city's Fire Department will take a fire engine carrying paramedics out of service most days of the week because of an effort to limit overtime due to budget concerns. Interim Montebello Fire Chief Jim Ballard said he will implement the change at the beginning of May. He stated he will not take more than one fire engine out of service at a time. There are 3 fire stations in the city. Because fire stations are staffed 24/7, any vacancies due to injuries, illnesses, or vacations that would otherwise be filled by overtime staffing will instead result in the loss of a fire engine that day. Firefighters have worked $1.5 million in overtime while police officers, traffic officers, and detectives have worked $1.3 million worth of overtime this fiscal year. Last month, officials reduced the Fire Department's daily shift staffing from 18 to 16. That resulted in taking Truck 56 out of service permanently. Further complicating things is the fact that 5 firefighters are on leave due to injuries.
UPDATED : April 18, 2010
SAN MARINO - Fire Chief John Penido has announced his retirement effective July 1, 2010. John has been San Marino Fire Chief since 1993.
UPDATED : April 7, 2010
EL SEGUNDO - Police Capt. Mitch Tavera, who started his career with the department, will take over next month as chief. Tavera will step in for interim Police Chief David Cummings, who was appointed to the post in late 2006 and has been working on a contract basis since retiring last fall. His resume includes stints as a police officer, narcotics investigator, team leader in a countywide narcotics task force and captain, among others. For the past nine years, he also has been commander of the South Bay Mobile Field Force Platoon. A lifelong South Bay resident, Tavera is the father of four grown children. His father, Abe Tavera, who operates King Harbor Marine Center in Redondo Beach, is a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer. Tavera will take the helm of the 66-officer El Segundo force on April 7. The post pays $207,084 per year.
HERMOSA BEACH - While the beach cities’ coffers sank, the 2009 crime rates rose. Hermosa Beach saw its major crime incidents — homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft/ larceny and auto theft — jump up 24 percent, from 846 in 2008 to 1,052 in 2009. Manhattan Beach’s major crimes increased 10 percent, from 246 to 272 incidents in 2009. It’s hard to ignore the sour economy’s role in rising crime rates. The most striking increase in Hermosa Beach crimes was thefts. The total number of incidents soared from 345 in 2008 to 524 in 2009. Robberies increased from 25 to 30, burglaries from 111 to 148 and aggravated assaults from 115 to 148. In El Segundo, burglary incidents increased by 41 percent from 2008 to 2009 and thefts increased by 7 percent. Beach cities officials said the cities have seen a rash of bicycle and baby stroller thefts, taken mostly from open garages to later be sold on eBay or Craigslist. Residents are not necessarily being more careless with securing their homes or vehicles, but that would-be criminals are taking more advantage of opportunities than they did in the past. In Manhattan Beach, burglary incidents increased from 144 to 157, motor vehicle thefts increased from 50 to 56, while larceny/theft incidents decreased from 736 in 2008 to 718 in 2009. The city saw a 13-percent increase in violent crimes from 2008. Rape incidents increased from two to eight and aggravated assault incidents rose from 21 to 24. Robbery, however, showed a slight decrease from 29 incidents in 2008 to 27 in 2009. Major crimes in El Segundo climbed 11 percent from 2008 to 2009. Incidents of rape doubled from 2008 to 2009, while robberies, aggravated assaults and motor vehicle thefts decreased. Redondo Beach fared well compared to its neighbors in 2009, seeing only a 0.86-percent increase in major crimes from 2008. The number of robberies increased from 78 to 90, aggravated assaults from 96 to 103, burglaries from 281 to 297 and larceny from 1,134 to 1,140, while rape incidents dropped from 12 to seven in 2009 and arson incidents dropped from seven to one. However, crime statistics show overall in the past 10 years, crime rates have decreased.
UPDATED : March 30, 2010
PASADENA - For the first time in its history, the Pasadena Fire Department has promoted a woman to the rank of fire captain. Tricia Rodriguez, a 16-year department veteran, was one of two captains who passed the grueling certification process this year. Rodriguez is one of 32 fire captains in the department. She is based at Fire Station No. 33 on Lake Avenue. She and Arturo Dominguez - the other captain - will serve for a year before they will be recognized as tenured captains within the department. Of the department's 169 firefighters, 10 are women, making up 5.9 percent of the department, which is higher than the national average of 3.7 percent.
BURBANK - The Burbank Fire Department, which must cut more than $1 million from its budget, will again face questions about maintaining essential services. A comprehensive review of the Fire Department identified dozens of ways for it to improve, although some measures will have to be put on hold until the economy recovers. The 64 recommendations range from installing smoke/heat detection and fire sprinklers in the training center classroom to improving security at all six stations. The suggestions provided by Emergency Services Consulting International were prioritized by the firm and department, and classified as completed, in progress or on hold due to budgetary concerns. Fire Chief Ray Krakowski said that by its nature a top-to-bottom audit focuses on areas that could be improved, namely long-term planning. He said some of the department’s goals were vague, and that the rules needed to be formalized. The firm solicited information from stakeholders, collected and analyzed data and examined personnel and practices. Of the 64 recommendations in the report, 27 are listed as having been addressed or completed, 27 are in progress and 10 are on hold pending an economic rebound. At the same time, the audit identified several possible improvements that have been put on hold due to budgetary constraints, including re-establishing a self-inspection program, expanding public education to include kindergarten through 12th grade, and expanding rescue ambulance capability at Fire Stations 12 and 14. Other recommendations in the report, which was reviewed by the City Council, are expected to be handled as part of the department’s strategic plan, including the adoption of a code of ethics and possibly creating a citizen advisory group. Officials could also adopt a security plan that would include police patrols of vacant buildings, perimeter fencing, video cameras, and updated access controls, according to the report.
UPDATED : March 15, 2010
BURBANK - Fire Chief Tracy Pansini has officially
retired from the department as of February 20, 2010. He wishes
to spend more time with family and friends. Ray Krakowski, who
has served as Acting Chief in recent months, has been sworn in
as
MONTEBELLO - As of March 15, 2010, the Montebello Fire Department has permanently removed Truck 56 from service. The department will continue with 3 Paramedic Engines and Truck 55 with 4 personnel on each.
UPDATED : February 27, 2010
LOS ANGELES - Northrop Grumman Corporation subsidiary Remotec Inc. and its partner Autonomous Solutions Inc. have delivered a stronger, heavier and more capable robot to the Los Angeles Police Department, allowing officers to perform more missions more safely. The Caterpillar TL1255 Telehandler can be operated remotely from a distance of up to one mile, has a forward reach of more than 40 feet, an extension height of 50 feet, and a lift capacity of 12,000 pounds. Armed with these new capabilities, first responders and special weapons and tactics teams (SWAT) can more effectively respond to emergency situations, including explosive ordnance disposal, hazardous material response (HAZMAT) and port security. The Telehandler is Remotec's first offering from a new heavy-duty line of roboticized construction-grade equipment. For more than 20 years, Remotec has been keeping danger at a distance by providing rugged and dependable hazardous duty robotics for military, explosive aordnance demolition, HAZMAT, law enforcement, SWAT and other first responder applications worldwide. Remotec is based in Clinton, Tenn., and is the largest provider of robots to the first responder market.
MANHATTAN BEACH - After two years as the Manhattan Beach fire chief, Scott Ferguson will step down March 19 and take the position for the Santa Monica Fire Department. Ferguson said several chief positions opened up last year, but he had no inclination to leave the city. When the recruiter for the Santa Monica position called late last year, he told her he wasn’t interested. But when Ferguson had accepted the Manhattan Beach chief position in January 2008, he had pulled his new bride, Maria, away from her career in Arizona. She still hasn’t been able to find a job in the area. Ferguson said while the cities are comparable — both beach communities with similar priorities — he will be making more money and the station is more than double the size of Manhattan Beach. Ferguson, 48, has been in charge of about 30 sworn firefighters in two fire stations in the city. Santa Monica has 109 firefighters in four stations. His base salary will be $198,168. Ferguson hopes with a bigger opportunity will come the chance to finally settle down with his wife. He said they are still leasing a fourplex and have much of their stuff in storage, with homes in Arizona that they are still trying to sell. Ferguson said he and Maria sat down with pencils and paper, and wrote out a list of pros and cons when making the decision. While his decision comes mere months after the abrupt resignation of former City Manager Geoff Dolan, Ferguson made clear that his move is based on no hard feelings with the city. During his tenure at Manhattan Beach, Ferguson completed a strategic plan for the department and a rigorous staffing study, and improved relationships between the Fire Department and other city departments and the community. Ferguson said the next fire chief must have vision, the skills to communicate well with department heads and City Council, and be a good listener. Before taking the helm of the Manhattan Beach Fire Department, Ferguson served as the support services, then operations chief, overseeing seven stations in Peoria, Ariz., from 2002 to 2007. While in Vancouver, Wash., from 1988 to 2002, he moved up the ranks from firefighter to training chief. He received a master’s degree in management from Wayland Baptist University in Phoenix, Ariz. For the Santa Monica position, Ferguson was chosen from a nationwide pool of more than 65 candidates and 20 finalists to succeed Jim Hone, who retired this month. He will assume his post March 29.
UPDATED : February 19, 2010
LOS ANGELES COUNTY - The L.A. County Sheriff's Department unveiled some sophisticated new equipment and port protection measures that will enhance and expand the pre-port entry screening program. The equipment includes a 55-foot ocean vessel, radiation detecting aircraft, and a specially trained canine. The screening vessel is equipped with highly advanced radiation, chemical, and biological detection equipment. This allows deputies to remotely screen entire ships for WMD materials while enroute to the port. The detection equipment transmits real-time data to the LASD HAZMAT Detail Headquarters for further interpretation. The vessel is also equipped with advanced sonar and a Remotely-Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV) capable of depths up to 3000 feet. The ROV is equipped to remotely search ship hulls for improvised explosive devices and to remove or disarm them. Deployed on the vessel is a canine trained to detect the chemical and biological components that are used to create WMD's. This is the first and only canine in the U.S. with this capability. Additionally, a Eurocopter AS350B2 helicopter has been equipped with an advanced radiation detection pod that allows for remote screening of ships for radioactive ships while flying overhead.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have voted 4-1 to merge county police with the Sheriff's Department. Employees of the Office of Public Safety are responsible for security at more than 450 county facilities, including hospitals and parks. Those employees will now have the opportunity to qualify as sheriff's deputies or work in non-sworn positions within the department. County staffers indicated that the plan is to absorb existing county police staff into the sheriff's department, but they cannot guarantee jobs for all in the merger, planned to take effect June 30, 2010. The Office of Public Safety is budgeted for 579 sworn officers and 140 support professionals, and oversees more than 800 contract employees. But only 76 percent of the positions are filled. The Sheriff's Department plans to budget 694 new positions as part of the merger. The county maintained that any county police officer who becomes a sheriff's deputy would be qualified for the job. Medical and psychological exams and background checks will be done. An 80-hour orientation will help prepare newly sworn deputies. County police are trained on California Peace Officer Standards and Training at the Rio Hondo Community College Police Academy. The ongoing cost of running the security services through the Sheriff's Department are expected to be about $1.5 million higher annually. A one-time cost of about $20 million will also be incurred.
ALTADENA - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved $1.3 million in renovations for the sheriff's Altadena Station. The renovations would add a dispatch center and security fences to the Altadena Drive station, which was built in 1947. For years, officials hoped to build a new sheriff's station to replace it - but the $30 million necessary to build the project has been hard to come by. Currently, 9-1-1 emergency calls from the area are taken by the sheriff's station in Crescenta Valley. Adding a dispatch center in Altadena will allow authorities there to connect directly with the community and could speed up response times. The station will still not be capable of detention services, which will continue to be handled by the Crescenta Valley Station. The renovation money will also go toward putting up security fences and gates for the parking lot - a remedy for what officials call unsafe conditions. Renovations will also be made to the lobby area and public restroom facilities, which will be compliant with the American Disabilities Act.
MANHATTAN BEACH - Four Manhattan Beach police officers have been placed on paid administrative leave for their involvement in the alleged cover-up of a hit-and-run collision last month. The officers are being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The Manhattan Beach Police Department responded to the three-car hit-and-run collision, possibly involving an intoxicated driver, on Sepulveda Boulevard, north of Manhattan Beach Boulevard, around 7:30 p.m Jan. 31. When officers responded, the car that had caused the crash had left the scene and the remaining drivers were treated for minor injuries. One of the remaining drivers later drove to the Arco gas station at Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Dianthus, spotted the car that had caused the crash and called police. When Police Chief Rod Uyeda learned of the collision the next day, he immediately had grave concerns about the decisions made by the police officers involved and ordered an independent investigation by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. Uyeda immediately placed the four officers, whose names have not been released, on paid administrative leave when he learned of the incident. This is the second time over the past year that an officer-involved traffic accident in the city was only made public because of inquiries from the press. Last June, an on-duty police officer lost control of the SUV he was driving on Highland Avenue, hitting at least two parked cars and a tree before the vehicle came to rest on its side.
UPDATED : February 13, 2010
GLENDALE - The City of Glendale Fire Department has started a new Basic Life Support (BLS) Program. This program will provide yet another valuable service to the citizens of Glendale. Congratulations to the 12 Ambulance Operators (AO's) who graduated from GFD's first Ambulance Operator academy on Jan. 26. Two BLS units have gone into service - BLS 22, and BLS 25. Each unit will be staffed with two Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's). They will operate in 12-hour shifts, one from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm and the second from 12 noon to 12 midnight. The program arose from the need to save the Fire Department money and to free up paramedics, so they could respond more quickly to serious injury calls. Similar programs in other fire departments have been very successful. As a result of adding 2 new BLS ambulances, RA 22 has been taken out of service and USAR 29 has been moved to Station 22 as USAR 22.
ALHAMBRA - Improvements to the Alhambra Fire Training Facility are complete along with . The many improvements will allow firefighters to hone and practice their skills involving Rescue Systems I and III, trenches, confined space operations, high and low angle rope rescue, and to simulate real-life scenarios at the site. Doors and windows have been outfitted with racking devices to make every evolution different. The windows are barred and doors can be pried open repeatedly via the installation of spring retention devices. Hangers have been welded into the I-beams to allow for simulated flat, commercial, lightweight roofs to be constructed and utilized for shoring and ventilation. Along with these new improvements, inward / outward, resettable hydraulic props will allow engine and truck companies to create real-life collapse scenarios. A new simulated strip-mall type structure can be configured to meet many new training modalities that were not previously possible without acquiring a structure that was being demolished. Possible future improvements being considered at the site include the addition of a classroom for lecture and instruction.
UPDATED : February 3, 2010
LONG BEACH - City Manager Pat West today announced
that Jim McDonnell, a widely respected 28-year police veteran
with a history of innovative leadership and community outreach,
has been selected as the new Chief of Police for the City of
Long Beach. Chief McDonnell, one of the nation’s pre-eminent law
enforcement officials, has served as First Assistant Chief of
the Los Angeles Police Department, second in command of the
third largest police department in the United States. During his
UPDATED : January 15, 2010
WHITTIER - Plans for a police memorial in front of the new police station have been approved by the City Council. The memorial, to be called "The Final Salute," will consist of a bronze statue of a police officer saluting his fallen comrade next to a child holding a flag. It will sit atop of a 6-foot granite hexagon. The statue will be placed on the Penn Street side in between the new station and City Hall, about 20 feet away from the sidewalk. Panels on the hexagon will provide stories of the only two Whittier police officers to have died while on duty. The statue is expected to be completed by January 2011. The new station is expected to open some time next summer.
PASADENA - Colleagues - both human and canine - gathered to bid Pasadena police dog "Art" farewell as he retired from the Police Department. Art, a 10-year-old Czech Shepherd, racked up 593 narcotics finds and discovered $4,653,000 in cash during his career. But after spending nine years serving Pasadena under the direction of his handler Officer Tom Brown, an injury suffered in training 7 years ago forced Art to retire. The Pasadena Police Department maintains two K-9 units. The department's other police dog, "Bono," remains on duty. A new handler has already been selected to replace Brown, and police were in the process of selecting a new dog.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY - Los Angeles County Fire
Department Chief P. Michael Freeman, who announced he would
UPDATED : January 12, 2010
SOUTH PASADENA - After eight years in the job, South Pasadena police Chief Dan Watson will retire in July. City officials told Watson in November that they would not renew his employment agreement and would begin recruiting a new chief. Officials encouraged the 58-year-old chief to re-apply for the position, but he instead sent a memo to City Manager John Davidson on Jan. 7 stating his intent to retire on July 2. But residents and former officials are saying he was all but ousted by the current council and are questioning why the popular chief is being allowed to leave. The chief declined to discuss what reasons, if any, were given to him to explain the council's decision not to renew his employment agreement. But Watson did say he was told officials believed the Police Department was in "good shape." Several other residents, including current City Treasurer Victor Robinette, then spoke up during open session at that meeting. At a Dec. 16 meeting, City Clerk Sally Kilby also addressed the council during public comments, urging them to retain the police chief. No residents spoke against him. Watson was hired in January 2002, after spending 28 years in the Los Angeles Police Department. The crime rate has dropped 21 percent in South Pasadena since Watson took over as chief. Several residents expressed frustration that city officials were not explaining their reasons for not renewing Watson's contract.
UPDATED : January 1, 2010
LOS ANGELES COUNTY - As walls of flame from the massive Station blaze closed in on their remote compound, the mission of the crews at Fire Camp 16 suddenly changed from protecting their corner of the Angeles National Forest to saving their own lives. Two Los Angeles County firefighters approached the front line of the blaze in a heroic attempt to stop its march toward the camp high in the San Gabriel Mountains and were killed as the flames engulfed the landscape. Now, four months after Capt. Tedmund Hall and Spc. Arnaldo Quinones became the only fatalities of the fire, new details of the tragedy have emerged, along with unsettling questions of how and why the crews were allowed to stay in harm's way, and whether commanders had failed to grasp in time the danger the camp faced. A U.S. Forest Service e-mail written shortly after the deaths addresses the hazards of the fire and refers to the loss of "two people who stayed too long." The e-mail was obtained by The L.A.Times along with other records that show that the camp crews were not formally assigned to the Station operation and thus might have been excluded from the commanders' broader strategy of defending critical structures in the forest while ensuring the safety of firefighters. The battle against the fire was managed jointly by the county and the U.S. Forest Service. The unusual disconnect between the camp and those leading the attack on the biggest fire in county history is evident in dispatch logs that reveal scant contact between the Mt. Gleason crews and the command center. Experts say that violates long-established firefighting protocols that require all agencies to work together on major blazes in the forest, maintaining good communications with each other and sharing information about fire behavior, weather conditions and escape routes. The Station fire logs contain no calls to evacuate the camp or any effort to send help as the flames raced toward it. And daily government summaries of the firefight do not list the camp, a cluster of converted military buildings, among the many properties that commanders considered imperiled. Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) and other lawmakers have called for a congressional investigation. As the Station fire blew out of control, the county remained in charge of Camp 16 and had issued the order to protect it, sending two engine companies to Mt. Gleason the day before it burned to bolster the crews based there, records and interviews show. The fire overran the camp on its fifth day, gutting the buildings that once housed a Nike anti-aircraft missile site.
UPDATED : December 10, 2009
REDONDO BEACH - K9 Valor, who served the Redondo Beach Police Department for more than three years, was put to sleep Dec. 2, after suffering the effects of kidney problems for the past several weeks. RBPD K9 Unit Manager Lt. Todd Heywood said the 5-year-old German shepherd’s illness and deterioration came as a surprise. Valor’s partner and handler, Officer Ken Greenleaf, took Valor to the veterinarian where they found a concern with the blood work. Heywood said four different veterinarians examined Valor and his medical charts, and all reached the same conclusion: It was time to end his suffering. But Greenleaf said the veterinarian who evaluated Valor last week noted in his charts that his kidney values were high ever since the department purchased him. Greenleaf said he will not hold a service of any kind for Valor, and Heywood said such events are few and far between, often only taking place for K9 officers who have died in the line of duty. What to do with Valor’s remains will be left up to Greenleaf and his family, who kept Valor as their pet during off-duty hours. Valor was born “Rojben” in October 2004 in Czechoslovakia, according the RBPD Web site. He became a member of the K9 team on Feb. 6, 2006, when Greenleaf renamed him “Valor.” Though only with the force for a little more than three years, Valor seized more than $100,000 in cash and property, located countless amounts of illegal narcotics and apprehended dozens of criminal suspects. He also was a seven-time champion in the canine skills Trial Championships, won a Narcotics Championship and garnered four gold medals in the World Police and Fire Games in Vancouver. Valor was stabbed twice in the neck by Jimmie Divo Lunceford, a Lawndale man Valor apprehended in July 2007. Valor underwent an hour-long surgery to repair the damage, and Lunceford was sentenced to the maximum five years and eight months in prison. He initially was wanted for making criminal threats to his ex-girlfriend’s two adult daughters. According to the RBPD Web site, Lunceford was trying to get officers to kill him when Valor was deployed, likely saving Lunceford’s life. For those who would like to contribute to the RBPD K9 team, donations may be sent to Lt. Todd Heywood, c/o Redondo Beach Police Department, 401 Diamond St., Redondo Beach, CA 90277.
UPDATED : November 25, 2009
BURBANK - The chief of the Burbank Police Department announced Monday that he is stepping down, a month after the FBI revealed it was investigating several current and former officers at the agency. Tim Stehr, 51, who became chief in 2007, made his announcement in a statement released by the city. He did not give a reason for his resignation. Stehr's retirement comes nearly a week after he was bitterly criticized by the family of a Burbank police sergeant who took his own life and by other officers who blamed the chief and other city officials for the death, saying the sergeant was the victim of retaliation for defending fellow officers. In September, FBI officials confirmed that they are investigating possible civil rights violations alleged by officers at the department. Additionally, at least seven lawsuits have been filed by officers against the department, alleging a pattern of racial discrimination and retaliation, as well as unlawful demotions or firings. Officials said the city had begun its own investigation of the department long before the suits were filed and asked the L.A. County Sheriff's Department to open an independent review of the accusations.
UPDATED : November 4, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has selected Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Charlie Beck, a 32-year LAPD veteran with strong support from rank-and-file officers and civil rights advocates alike, to serve as the next chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. The choice comes at a time of uncertainty for the department as Beck will be given the task of sustaining Police Chief William J. Bratton’s hard-won gains amid dwindling city budgets. Beck, 56, has risen quickly through the department’s command ranks in recent years and was viewed widely as the favorite to be selected by the mayor. From his success in rehabilitating the LAPD’s Rampart Division, which had been at the center of a corruption scandal, and later as head of the LAPD’s forces in South Los Angeles, he has earned praise from police and civic leaders alike for blending a tough stance on crime with a progressive approach to improving the the LAPD’s relationship with the public. Beck’s appointment must still be ratified by the City Council in a vote expected in the coming weeks, although no serious opposition is expected. With the department budget being battered by the city’s fiscal crisis and morale of rank-and-file officers wavering in the face of a new contract that offers no pay raises, Beck faces a serious challenge of maintaining the progress of the last several years.
BURBANK - The family of a 50-year-old Burbank police officer Tuesday blamed the department's chief and other department and city officials for his suicide. Sgt. Neil Thomas Gunn was found around 11:40 a.m. Thursday near Sunset Canyon and Harvard Road with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and pronounced dead at the scene. Gunn, 50, apparently was listed in an FBI probe into misconduct by the Burbank Police Department. Gunn's widow Tina Gunn told the Los Angeles Times that the department's leaders and union failed to support him against use-of-force allegations, effectively ruining his career. Along with the FBI investigation, two other probes are being conducted into the department. At Tuesday night's City Council meeting, City Councilman David Gordon requested that Police Chief Tim Stehr be placed on administrative leave but none of his four colleagues supported the request. Gunn was a 22-year-veteran and patrol sergeant with the Burbank Police Department. He received numerous commendations for his work, including the Ministerial Officer of the Year in 1992, and two departmental Professional Esteem awards.
UPDATED : October 13, 2009
LOS ANGELES - The construction of a new Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting facility at LAX is being implemented and will result in a facility of approximately 28,000 square feet with seven (7) apparatus bays. LAFD has said that a larger facility is needed to accommodate the size, volume, and nature of emergency response equipment at the ARFF, particularly with regard to equipment storage areas. The facility will provide living, admin, and training areas for 14 firefighters assigned to each shift. The new facility will be located on Coast Guard Road and will be situated relative to the mid-points of the outermost runways (Runway 6L/24R on the north and Runway 7R/25L on the south). The $13.5 million LAFD Fire Station 80 project received $10.8 million in federal stimulus funding from the American Recovery & Reinvesting Act.
PASADENA - In September, the city council approved the purchase of a new police helicopter. The Police Department has received federal grant funding to outfit this helicopter with various forms of technology including a FLIR system, an ARS mapping system, and a digital down-linking system. The FLIR system is an infrared tracking system that uses a heat profile to highlight and track involved persons, vehicles, structures or other objects. Not only is this equipment useful in the suppression of crime, it is often used to locate lost hikers, missing persons, and a number of other related instances. The ARS mapping system links live video images over a GIS based aerial mapping system, on a single screen, thereby allowing air crews to mark important images and or landmarks during their investigations. The digital down-linking system allows ground operations to view events as they appear from the helicopter. This equipment is also vitally important during natural disasters including fires, hazmat incidents, building collapses, and major traffic incidents.
WEST COVINA - The Police Department has retired K-9 Quattro.
ALHAMBRA - The Police Department has retired K-9 Eros.
UPDATED : October 9, 2009
CULVER CITY - Jeff Eastman is stepping down as Culver City Fire Department chief in less than three months after 32 years with the department. His father and two uncles were firefighters in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, respectively, and their love for the job rubbed off on a young Eastman. Since starting at the CCFD as a rookie firefighter in 1977, Eastman has performed about every conceivable task, ranging from paramedic duties to working as battalion chief and leading strike teams. Since he began his professional career before starting a family, Eastman’s wife and kids didn’t know a life with a husband and father who came home from work every night. Eastman, who lives in Acton, spends several nights a week at Fire Station 1 and usually goes home on weekends. But spending a lot of time at the station allowed him to build a family within his fire crew. Working and living with his co-workers led to lifelong friendships with some, which resulted in shared family vacations, and watching their children befriend one another. With less than three months remaining before retirement, Eastman says he is looking forward to one more accomplishment as chief: the opening of the brand new Fire Station 3. Eastman said he does not know yet what retirement holds for him, although he envisions some traveling and tourism and perhaps some work involving his expertise in emergency medical services. As he eyes the next phase of his life, Eastman said he would change very little about the past three decades.
UPDATED : October 6, 2009
PASADENA - Police Chief Bernard Melekian, who has led the department since 1996, said Monday he will leave the job and head to Washington, D.C. The move came just after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Melekian's appointment to head the U.S. Department of Justice's COPS program during a speech to the International Association of Police Chiefs in Denver. Melekian said he had been approached about the job several months ago and was offered it last week. "It's always been my driving purpose to make a difference in American law enforcement, and I think I can do it with this job," said Melekian. The COPS - Community Oriented Police Services - program's purpose is to fund community policing projects across the country. Founded by President Bill Clinton, its original task was to put 100,000 new cops on the street. After working for 23 years for the Santa Monica Police Department, where he earned a Medal of Valor, Melekian came to Pasadena at a time when the city was dealing with an exploding gang problem. Melekian also stepped in to run other city departments whenever he was needed. He headed the Fire Department for six months in 1998, and was acting city manager for nine months in 2008. Melekian, an Army and Coast Guard veteran, served in the Gulf War in 1991 in the Army, and did an eight-month stint with the Coast Guard in 2003. Melekian will stay on as chief until Nov. 8, when the city likely will appoint an interim chief. Although city officials would not say who his replacement might be, a likely choice could be Deputy Police Chief Chris Vicino, who acted as interim chief in 2008 when Melekian was working as city manager.
ALHAMBRA - As Alhambra's fire marshal and assistant fire chief, John Kabala served since 1992 as lead arson investigator in this city of more than 30,000 residential units and four main business districts. His career actually began while Kabala, then a student at La Salle High School in Pasadena, heard about a fire cadet program at the Pasadena Fire Department and decided to volunteer. On Friday, after 30 years with the city, Kabala retired. Originally from Chicago, he moved with his family to Pasadena in the late 1970s, eventually attending Cal State Los Angeles, where he majored in criminal justice while continuing to work at the Pasadena Fire Department. It was 1980, three years after the passage of Proposition 13, and cutbacks in public safety made firefighting jobs scarce. So Kabala applied for a job with the Alhambra Police Department and got it. He worked in patrol for a while, then in the detective bureau, where he became an arson and explosives expert in 1988. When a fire marshal position opened up in the city's Fire Department in 1992, Kabala beat out 47 other candidates. It's his experience as a police investigator that brought a needed element to arson probes, which are handled exclusively by the Fire Department. Kabala also has trained nine department members in the art of arson investigation. Kabala estimates he's investigated more than 75 fire deaths over the course of his career. Though he's retiring from public service, Kabala said he'll continue investigating fires for private insurance and investigation firms.
EL SEGUNDO - Considering that the city is facing a $6 million deficit, the El Segundo City Council’s public hearing regarding the preliminary budget was quiet, with just one resident questioning the reasoning behind the high cost of city employee retirements and increase in salaries. The El Segundo Fire Department, which is responsible for 68 percent of the general fund overtime, has agreed to “run-short” of up to two firefighters per shift. Currently, the department employs 19 staff at all times, meaning that if one is out on sick leave, vacation or injury, then a replacement would come in at overtime pay. However, by running two short, the department would have to wait until they were down by three until they called someone in for an overtime shift. El Segundo Fire Chief Kevin Smith, who spoke at the meeting, recognized that the El Segundo Fire Department was highly staffed compared to other surrounding cities. The staff is double that of Manhattan Beach, which has a staff of nine firefighters on duty at one time and more than triple of that of Hermosa Beach ( a similar size city), which has a staff of six at any given time. So why does the El Segundo Fire Department have 19 full-time staff, with an average salary of $150,000? Previous to the new contract, both police and fire had been given a five-year contract from 2003-08, put in place by the late former El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon. The contract enabled a raise in both base salary and special compensation. Cullen explained that this resulted in a 38-percent growth in salary payout over that period. Smith said running two short will have a minimal impact and added that in terms of structure fires, the city experiences an average of less than one per year.
UPDATED : September 25, 2009
WHITTIER - Drivers riding on the Pomona (60) Freeway probably saw a lot California Highway Patrol Officer David Romero during his 15 years patrolling the beat. But, due to a man who was driving high on methamphetamine, commuters will never see Romero again, only a sign bearing his name. Romero's family and colleagues on Thursday at the Caltrans regional headquarters in Whittier unveiled a memorial sign honoring Romero, which will be placed on part of the 60 freeway named for the fallen officer. The David M. Romero Memorial Highway covers the 60 from the 605 Freeway to Hacienda Boulevard. Romero, who was 47, was killed Sept. 23, 2005 after a speeding motorist slammed into the back of his police motorcycle, causing him to carom across an intersection in Industry and suffer fatal injuries. The 120-member staff of the CHP's Santa Fe Springs office, both sworn and civilian, were on hand, as were representatives of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Whittier Police Department.
UPDATED : September 16, 2009
SOUTH BAY - Recently, members of the Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach city councils have expressed an interest in exploring the possibility of consolidating the fire protection services of both cities into one department. The purpose would be to streamline and improve administrative effectiveness, eliminate duplication of staffing, improve organizational efficiency along with adding financial stability and to standardize fireground operations, while at the same time realizing a financial savings for both cities. Union participation is critical in the complicated merger process. The presidents of both departments' unions expressed support of the concept Tuesday, and early informal talks between both departments' management and unions indicated support from the labor groups. Officials from both sides will begin hashing out the nitty gritty, feasibility and possible cost savings of a merger in coming weeks, and will present a formal plan to the Redondo and Hermosa councils for a final vote likely by the end of the year. Should both cities decide to move forward with a merger, the first stage of the process could begin as soon as January, when Redondo Beach would assume management of Hermosa's training, fire prevention and hazardous materials programs. Other elements of the merger would be to take hold over the next three to four years:
Phase 2: Training and policy manuals, standard operating procedures, and other variances among the departments would consolidate in phase two, deemed the most delicate and labor-intensive portion of the process. Labor groups would also revise their agreements during this phase, which could take up to two years.
Phase 3: Likely to take a year, all personnel would be trained under the combined operations, procedures and programs revised in the previous stage of consolidation.
Phase 4: Formal consolidation would follow, either during or after training in the previous phase.
UPDATED : September 4, 2009
MONTEBELLO — The Montebello Fire Department has been awarded a $7,000 Fireman's Fund Heritage Grant for canine search and rescue training and equipment. With only 180 nationally certified canine teams across the country, Montebello is fortunate to have two. The canine teams, along with the swift water rescue team and the heavy rescue team, can respond to a multitude of rescue needs including confined space, collapse, trench, high angle, vehicle over the side, swift water, landslide and other disasters. To keep their skills sharp, the handlers, along with their four-legged partners, train three to four hours a day twice a week in all types of situations searching through rubble, cement, green waste, wood, asphalt and other materials. Montebello Fire Captain Marc Valentine, who serves as a Southern California group training leader, would also like to use the grant for advanced canine emergency training. According to Valentine, it takes several years of training for the dogs to obtain basic certification. In addition to being available in Los Angeles County, Montebello’s teams also serve on the Orange Country Fire Authority’s Federal Emergency Management Administration’s Urban Search and Rescue task force.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY - On the fire lines, a heart can get broken, a house could burn, a wilderness can be decimated, a life may be lost. Those are the possibilities firefighters face each time they go out to battle a blaze. But after a fire is contained, how do they decompress. As it turns out, a firefighter's heart always stays on the job, said Dr. Matthew Budoff, a researcher who is studying how stress affects the cardiac health of firefighters. "Firefighters have a much higher risk of suffering a heart attack, going to, being at, or after a fire," said Budoff, director of cardiac care at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Police Officers and paramedics as well as firefighters have more plaque in their arteries than people who do not do these jobs. The current Station Fire has proven especially stressful, said Los Angeles County Fire Captain Kevin Klar, and time will tell what the effects will be. Described at times as out of control and a monster, the Station Fire has so far consumed more than 150,000 acres of dry wilderness brush since it began on Aug. 26, forced mass evacuations, burned dozens of homes and recreational cabins, and contributed to the death of two Los Angeles County firefighters. Klar oversees the National Firefighters Association Fitness For Life Program in Los Angeles, which encourages his colleagues to stay fit, eat well and take care of their health. Of the 3,500 county firefighters, 10 percent have undergone cardiac research, Klar said. Of those, 1 percent have continued care for cardiac disease. Budoff has been studying about 60 firefighters since 2005 and will continue to monitor their hearts using 3-D images to evaluate the effects of job-related stress. Since there are fewer women firefighters, his study is focused on men. Similar studies have taken place in Atlanta and New York. A second part of his research includes encouraging firefighters to include aged garlic extract in their diets. Garlic has been shown to help reduce plaque and lower blood pressure. The ultimate goal is to find ways to prevent cardiac disease so that less time is spent in the hospital, Budoff said.
UPDATED : September 1, 2009
EL MONTE - As of today, September 1st, Fire Station 167 is closed. The fire station closure is expected to increase emergency response times near the station from under 4 minutes to 5 to 8 minutes and sometimes more in some areas. The fire stations area is north of Ramona Blvd, south of Lower Azusa Rd, and east of Santa Anita Ave. IAFF Local 1014 Executive Board, along with LACoFD Fire Department Management, sat with the management of the City of El Monte for many hours of negotiations and discussions. Local 1014 and the FD went to the table with viable solutions to solve the financial problems of the city in relation to their fire department portion of their budget shortfall. The goal was to protect the current staffing levels for the citizens of El Monte. As late as the last week of August, the department continued to try to rectify the budgetary problem for the City of El Monte fire services. However, the city's management continued to turn a blind eye to the solutions, thus allowing no option except closure of Fire Station 167. Squad 167 will move to Station 166. The Captains and Firefighter Specialists from Station 167 will be departmentaled and then get preferentials. The Firefighter/Paramedics will get departmentaled to FS #166 and then they too will get preferentials. The firefighters at Fire Station 166 will get the same, departmentaled and then get preferentials.
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