The most basic responsibility of local government is to provide Fire and Police services to respond to emergencies, solve crime, and maintain public safety. Councilmember Bob Blumenfield is proud to have the support of the City’s firefighters and police officers and does everything he can to make sure our local police and fire stations have everything they need to do their jobs:

 

• He helped restore a new complete engine company to FS 73

• Brought on MRCA Rangers to patrol the LA River

• Strengthened online cybercrime systems

• Helped launch the LAPD Volunteer Patrol Programs and continues to proudly support the West Valley and Topanga PALS programs with earmarked dollars.

 

He also believes the police and firefighters when they say there are situations where they aren’t the best first responder. For people with a mental health crisis, or another non-violent situation, someone with a badge and a gun may not be the best one to offer help. That’s why Councilmember Bob Blumenfield championed the city’s new Alternative Dispatch for non-violent situations to provide trained social workers and interventionists for emergency calls that don’t require police or firefighters. These new teams are starting to be deployed in small pilot projects and are on track to have a new response system citywide based on the CAHOOTS model from Eugene Oregon working in LA in the next year. The San Fernando Valley will always need police and firefighters, and his hope is an additional first responder crew with special training for other crisis situations will better serve the public and meet this need.