Chief to Seek New Valley Station

STUDIO CITY — Only a few hours after being confirmed as the new chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Bernard C. Parks handed a packed audience at Carpenter Avenue School a couple of gems: He said he will push for the addition of a new station in the San Fernando Valley and plans to split the Valley LAPD headquarters.

“The Valley has gotten so large and so busy, it is almost impossible for one bureau to respond to all the community concerns,” Parks told the audience at the elementary school.

The decision on a new station is not his alone. The chief said the station would need to be funded through a 1998 bond measure.

His statements came at a meeting of the Studio City Residents Assn., marking his first community event as chief. He was venturing into what could have been enemy territory.

Valley residents were seen as initially supporting his top rival for the job, Mark Kroeker. Nonetheless, the association gave a hero’s welcome to the new chief, complete with a Weby’s Bakery layer cake.

The association had invited Parks to the meeting before he was named to the post by the mayor last week, and to the delight of the crowd he did not withdraw from the program.

Said Genny Incaudo, a board member: “I think he’s been received with warmth, admiration and great hope. . . . The fact that he made a commitment to continue this dialogue is something that has not happened in a long, long time.”

Added Mort Allen, a Studio City real estate agent and developer: “I hear he’s tough. I think this is a welcome change and I think morale is already up.”

Parks, who was confirmed by the City Council earlier Tuesday, has said he would attend community events throughout the city. While he is viewed as a traditionalist, he is also a supporter of community policing.

A skilled manager who hasn’t worked in the Valley except for a couple months as a patrol officer, Parks is charismatic in public meetings and is known for displaying a deep knowledge of the department and its history.