By Mary O’KEEFE

The Glendale Police Dept. has changed its way of covering the city. No longer are there Command areas where community police officers are dedicated to one specific section of the city. For example, the far north Glendale was in the North Command area. Instead police officers are all working together to deal with specific issues throughout the city. Far north Glendale in the Crescenta Valley area will still have its community officer Abe Chung, but he will also be part of a larger task force.

“Our area command model has changed,” said Sgt. Robert William, adjutant to the chief of police/Media Relations. “We have one commander, Lt. Oscar Rodriguez. The new unit is called the Community Impact Bureau.”

Within that bureau is the Crime Impact Team, the special enforcement unit that will deal with issues that impact specific communities as well as dealing with the everyday crime issues. Sgt. Danny Fernandez is the supervisor of the impact team and Chung is part of that team.

One of the reasons for the changes was to allow officers to be available to deal with issues as they happen. Chung is viewed as the expert in the area of Crescenta Valley; therefore, if he sees a trend, like burglary, increasing in the area he is part of a larger team that can respond immediately. In the past, Chung would have to request additional officers outside of the north command area. That could take time for those officers to become free from other areas. Now the officers are all part of one team, according to William.

Anyone with issues in the community is still encouraged to contact Officer Abe Chung, AChung@glendaleca.gov or GPD at (818) 548-4911.

  Mary Okeefe