KTLA News: "Los Angeles City Councilman Robert J. Stevenson criticizes deployment..." (1974)

uh the the senseless and brutal murder of those uh two young people at USC. Uh maybe having more policemen down there would not have stopped it, but it might have. And if it could, then I want to see our policemen down there with a blue uniform on, a gun at their side trying to protect the citizens. >> Is it feasible or is it possible to get more men out on it and in the streets as a striking force? Well, the answer to that question, of course, is that the Los Angeles Police Department was just commended by the chief administrative officer of the department for its efficiency and also the Los Angeles Police Department and Chief Davis in particular have called to the attention to the courts that people who have committed murder uh are back out on the street uh some on uh probation without having ever gone to jail. And we believe that this is the problem. >> Councilman Stevens, Stevenson, you've uh made a sure. Okay. Councilman Stevenson, you made a statement uh just recently about the police going after non victim or victimless crimes and that they you feel that they should spend more time on the streets. Uh could you expand on that and as to the why? >> Uh yes. I think that while we have crimes of murder and and robbery and rape, uh to overextend ourselves on the victimless crimes, the uh the common pedestrian drunk, not the drunk driver, but pedestrian drunk and uh uh a lady practicing the oldest profession in the world, although it is illegal and should be uh uh the police should take care of it. Still, I think that our priorities possibly are wrong. I don't say they are, but I think they are. And I think that we ought to take these uh officers, well-trained men, very good policemen, take them out of the bars looking for the prostitute, and put them down on the street where uh where the hard crime is occurring, and hopefully the the net result will be a slight decrease. I'm I'm sure that we'll never solve the whole problem, but a slight decrease in that hard crime. That that's what concerns me. We spend a tremendous amount of money uh for our police departments. They're well trained. They're good men. But maybe we're sending them to the wrong areas. >> Lately, the police have come come under a lot of fire from different organizations, uh, stemming from the shootout at DSLA and other incidents across the town. What spurred your comment, Davis's comment that that is a fairly high crime area and that he has taken the time and the men that he can possibly put out there. >> Uh, that's the point. the men that he can possibly put out. Uh I feel I'm not the chief of the police department and he knows better how to run a department than I do, but I feel that uh we have men in uh in vice operations in plain clothes sitting around in a bar looking for a lady of uh easy virtue um when they might better be employed out on the street. The city is supposed to have one of the finest police forces in the United States of that claim the killings that have gone on. >> Okay, Commander Hagen. Councilman Stevenson has said that the police department is spending too much ch time chasing so-called victimless crimes when crimes of violence are are running rampant in the streets. What is your answer to that? >> Well, the Los Angeles Police Department, if he means uh homosexuals and sex crimes, uh we only operate on generally on the basis of complaint. When we have a complaint that children are being molested in parks or we have a complaint that women cannot walk the streets in certain parts of the city uh without being insulted and propositioned, then the Los Angeles Police Department takes action. Now, with regard to the large number of men that we have supposedly assigned, that's untrue. Our striking force is always on patrol. We're out there protecting the public's uh interest and welfare. And uh it's just not true that we have a large number of men assigned to vice. >> He said that the major problem seems to be in deploring of the men that uh there were too many officers on the vice squad sitting in bars at night and uh when they should be out patrolling the streets and stopping the the crimes. And he used as an example the murder of the two college students right around USC. It would seem that he is hitting a point that a lot of people are concerned with. The so-called why aren't you out fighting crime when instead of arresting me for a traffic citation or a parking ticket. >> 100 people were murdered in the city of Los Angeles. And it is unfortunate in this particular case that uh these two young college people have lost their lives. But it is strange that black people can be murdered day in and day out and nothing is ever said about that. And here happens to be two white uh youngsters going to a college and they are murdered and the press acts as though that this is an unusual occurrence. Unfortunately, murder is quite common. However, in Los Angeles, major crime is lower than it is in any part of the country. The crime rates for the United States were just released this morning and there's a almost a 16% increase across the board in in first class crime. Los Angeles uh while it's uh we're not completely happy about it, our record is much lower than the national average. >> Congressman Stevenson again referring to his his statement said he was going to ask the commission to look into the problem of deploring of officers. Would you welcome that sort of investigation and do you think that uh once that investigation is completed if when it's done that uh the police department will come out on top? >> Well, I can say this that the police commission is fully aware of how every officer in this department is deployed. Uh the police commission is not something that is apart from the department. Uh they actually uh oversee the management of this department and are fully aware and fully cognizant of how our officers are deployed. And this is constantly reviewed in view of a crime situation. Uh I don't care if Councilman Stevenson calls it to the attention of the police commission. I'm sure that without his calling it to their attention, they're paying u uh large amount of time to uh how the officers of this department are deployed in Hollywood. We expected him to uh blast us a little bit, but he's got to do business with the homosexual gay community and this is a uh unfortunately a very viciferous and vocal group and unfortunately they do vote. So he's a politician and he's got to uh bear with them.