Hawthorne Press Tribune Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - September 29, 2016 Hawthorne Falls to Rival Leuzinger for Mayor’s Cup Hawthorne High School could not overcome a slow start in a 68-7 loss to rival Leuzinger last Friday. Hawthorne gave up 61 points in the first half. The Cougars will look to bounce back when they begin league play against Beverly Hills on Friday. Photo by Eric Ramos. Hawthorne Police Dept. Gets National Recognition, Funding for Cutting Edge Law Enforcement Gear By Derrick Deane Hawthorne’s police department received a big boost in recognition and equipment at the latest city council meeting on Tuesday. In 2011, the police department developed the Coffee with a Cop program, an event that allowed citizens to discuss community issues with local law enforcement at a restaurant in the city. “I’ll be the first to admit that it was an internal initiative selfishly driven because we wanted to better our relationship right here in our community,” Fager said. “If you asked us then how far do you think it could go we never would have dreamed of where it has gone.” The program has literally gone worldwide with Fager stating that a dozen countries are implementing some facet of the Coffee with a Cop program. “Shortly after starting the program we built positive relationships back in D.C. and the police office under the Department of Justice took a liking to our idea and awarded us nearly a half a million dollar grant to build it out,” Fager said. “It has literally impacted law enforcement everywhere,” Fager continued. “It has literally impacted communities and bettered relationships and we take exceptional pride that the work that we’ve done this year has been to the extent that whereby now the Department of Justice has made October 7 the National Coffee with a Cop Day.” To celebrate the event, Fager says the Hawthorne Police Department will be going back to its roots and host the event at their first location, McDonalds on 5310 Rosecrans Boulevard at 8 a.m. “We’re going to roll out the group that built this [program] and reconnect with our own community,” Fager said. “We’ll be inviting the media both national and local and we’re going to hopefully use that as the step-off point for encouraging and inviting every agency who runs Coffee with a Cop to do so with their own community on that day.” Fager says the city will also be inviting agencies that have been “sitting on the fence,” and have yet to implement the program. “I think it goes without saying that the social challenges, law enforcement based scrutinies, and just trust-building is at the forefront at every level now – state and especially nationally,” Fager said. “Something as simple as Coffee with a Cop helps break down barriers. It doesn’t set out agendas, and it allows agencies to reconnect with their constituency. It allows citizens to once again buy in and understand the role of law enforcement and equally, I always emphasize, law enforcement staff who partake in the event equally get a reconnection of why they took the original oath and why they have a job of going out to serve the good people of the community.” While the national recognition was a nice boost for the police department, there are of course practical matters such as equipment that need to be addressed. The city council approved three ordinances that total to more than $500,000 of new and updated equipment for various departments of law enforcement. Hawthorne SWAT officers will be getting new tactical entry vests at the cost of $88,000 while the city will also be getting a Portable Surveillance Camera Trailer for $75,000. “Ballistic vest have a shelf life and are guaranteed to protect for a certain number of years and we have reached that year,” Fager said about the need to replace the tactical vests. Fager says the city recently used El Camino College’s police trailer in the Holly Park area due to recent criminal activity in the area. “We got rave reviews when we put that trailer out at the park,” Fager said of the resident’s reaction. “Basically, we shut it down and they didn’t want us to return it to El Camino.” “It’s mobile, it’s deployable, we can put it up for public events, we can put it up based on criminal activity, or we can put it up for special lease,” Fager said of the surveillance trailer. The biggest expense though goes to the purchase of an armored-ambulance rescue vehicle at more than $339,000. The vehicle is designed and fabricated for the protection, rescue and medical treatment of citizens and first-responders during situations of extreme harm. “We didn’t invent tactical medicine and the concepts, but your police department has taken [on] a critical new need,” Fager said. “Armed people, significant weaponry, mass casualties. How do you get to them or your own officers if they’re the targets?” The armored ambulance is designed much like the SWAT Bearcat vehicles, but is engineered to be used in a medical capacity. “The purpose of this is to supplant the program that we have and bring a regional footprint of critical, life-saving capacity to primarily Hawthorne and its residents but also to the South Bay region,” Fager said. Money used to make these purchases will not come out of the city’s General Fund but rather an Asset Forfeiture Fund. “It is funding that the government gives back to us to use to continue the fight against crime,” Fager said in simplifying where the money in the fund comes from. The use of the funds is controlled by Fager and his office and is strictly written to not be used for basic city services. “I couldn’t take this money, give it to the city, and then the city goes and builds a park,” Fager said as an example. “It allows me to take a significant amount of money and apply it directly to law enforcement and public safety needs without burdening the city’s General Fund.” Fager adds that there are no issues regarding funds in the Asset Forfeiture Account adding that the purchases are “part of a long term master plan that I have,” as he anticipates “forthcoming needs of significant expense coming down the road.” • Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................5 Classifieds............................3 Finance..................................4 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals............................2, 6-7 Pets........................................8 Police Reports.....................3 Seniors..................................7 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 73˚/63˚ Saturday Partly Cloudy 73˚/62˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 70˚/60˚ The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne
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