Training Days Keep Police Up to Date

When a gunman ambushed Glendale Police Investigator Charles Lazzaretto last month at a Chatsworth warehouse, swarms of Los Angeles police officers responded.

After all, the warehouse where the ambush took place was in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Devonshire Division. So why were the two LAPD officers who were wounded in a failed rescue attempt of Lazzaretto from the West Valley Division?

The answer: Devonshire Division officers were on a training day, so officers from the neighboring West Valley Division were filling in for them.

Training days are an opportunity for peace officers to fine-tune their tactical skills, learn new crime-fighting procedures and become familiar with new laws and department policies.

“There are so many things for officers to get updated on and new technology for them to learn how to use,” LAPD spokesman Lt. Tony Alba said.

Patrol officers and detectives from each police division typically attend training days at least twice a year and arrangements are made for officers from neighboring divisions to cover their duties.

That is why it was West Valley Officers Kevin Foster and Jude Bella who tried to rescue Lazzaretto after the ambush in Chatsworth. Officers from other Valley police stations also responded, including some from the Van Nuys Division.

“It just happened to be a training day,” Alba said.

Training days typically break down into two categories: classroom and tactical exercises, Alba said. During a tactical training day, officers are taught new techniques and receive helpful hints on how to properly use their pistols, shotguns and other department-issued weapons and equipment. On classroom training days, officers may learn about cultural awareness, sexual harassment, computers or new laws.

“We have a lot of specialized units in the department that attend training days in an effort to teach our officers how to do their jobs better,” Alba said. “Our bunco forgery unit, for example, has an elder abuse section which trains officers on how to spot both the physical and financial abuse of the elderly.”

Other specialized units train officers in how to better deal with the sexual exploitation of children by parents or guardians, or with domestic violence, Alba said.

The opening of the new Haven Hills transitional housing and employment program for battered women and their children in Canoga Park on Monday is an example of a new service that will be brought to the attention of officers on training days.

“That’s a service that’s available to us now that officers would be updated on, and procedures would be outlined on how to get someone there,” Alba said.

Supervisors are also required to attend training days tailored for them, including a lesson in how to deal with the media that features a round-table discussion between police supervisors and TV, radio and newspaper reporters.

Sometimes crime victims or surviving relatives of a murder victim are invited to training days to talk about their experiences with the justice system, including the Police Department, Alba added.

“They discuss the good and bad parts of their experience, which makes us more aware of the needs of society’s victims so we may better address them,” Alba said.