Q&A; : Deputy Chief’s Hopes Rooted in Community Policing Work : Law enforcement: Mark A. Kroeker, now assigned to the South Bureau, says he will try to help bridge the gap between officers and residents.

Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker’s first experience in South Los Angeles was as a 21-year-old police officer fresh out of the academy. It was 1965, and Watts was in flames. Since then, he has held various positions in his ascent on the Los Angeles Police Department’s promotional ladder.

After the March, 1991, beating of Rodney G. King, Kroeker became commanding officer of the department’s San Fernando Valley Bureau, which includes the suddenly infamous Foothill Division, where the beating occurred. In little more than two years, he was credited with helping restore confidence in the department through a community-policing program.

Recently, Kroeker, 49, returned to the turbulent South Bureau, which is based in South-Central and includes the Harbor Division in San Pedro. There, he hopes to repeat his success in the Valley. But the challenges are daunting. He must deal with many residents who view police officers with distrust and hostility, while at the same time work to restore confidence in a demoralized rank-and-file police force.

The son of Mennonite missionaries, Kroeker was raised in the former Belgian Congo and Europe. A graduate of Cal State L.A. and USC, he is married with three adult children.

Question: The South Bureau is much different than the San Fernando Valley in terms of higher crime rates, demographics and high levels of fear, distrust--and in some cases, outright hostility toward the police. What is your strategy for dealing with these differences and starting successful community-policing programs?

Answer: My mission is twofold. I have to work with the department in re-establishing a level of self-worth on the part of the officers, many of whom feel that they have not received the recognition for the work they have done. So my responsibility with them is to lift that sprit, to encourage them in good, solid, good-hearted police work.

Then, in the community, I see a real similar thing. There has been a lot of negativity, a lot of acrimony, a lot of turbulence. The hostility has been there. Bridging that gap between the officers and community and bringing them together is the ultimate goal. In order to do that, you have to have trust.

The communities may be different and have different profiles, but there’s a universal sense of the oppression of crime, and there’s a universal sense of fear that prevails, whether in the Valley or the Harbor area.

Q: What specific strategies will you use?

A: I’ve only been here a few weeks, and I’m real reluctant to point to any programs which I intend to implement immediately here. I need to observe and assimilate the conditions of the people and get a good feeling for the officers’ capabilities and their workload.

Q: What was your reception like at Harbor Division?

A: I stopped in at Harbor at 11 o’clock (at night) and said “hi” to the roll call. I told them about how I would try to set an example, and then I talked to them about taking care of themselves physically, staying in shape. Real cops don’t eat doughnuts, I told them.

Early in the morning someone knocks on my hotel door, and it was the bell boy, and he had a box of doughnuts, and a note that said “Real cops do eat donuts,” signed by the Harbor Division morning watch. Each doughnut had a bite taken out of it.

Then the bellboy knocks on the door at 6:30 a.m., and this time it’s a huge box of doughnuts, uneaten, that said it was from the “Harbor area workout program,” wrapped with sealed evidence tags and signed by all the officers on the morning watch. Isn’t that funny? I still have the note; I think that’s kind of special.

Q: There was a big ballyhoo over the gang truce (in Watts). To some extent, it has held. Is there any way the police could seize upon this and make it into something bigger and better?

A: I’m not above trying anything. If anybody can do something that will bring relief to this violence, then I would be supportive.

Q: Are you familiar with the Harbor-area gang truce? Harbor Division statistics show that gang-banging has dropped by more than 30% in the past year.

A: I had heard about some of that. If it is the case where some people who have been affiliated with gangs now are no longer involved in violence, I salute them. I’m very gratified. That just represents fewer horror stories for us to deal with. If some of that is attributable to some people taking an oath saying (they) won’t hurt anyone anymore, well, that’s my kind of person.

But if someone has committed a crime, we still intend to go after them. There’s no amnesty. But there is hope, if somebody will put down their weapons.

Q: Do you plan to reach out to gang leaders and call them in?

A: I wouldn’t put it like that. I plan to talk to people. . . . If I thought it would do some good and reduce some violence in this city, I would talk to anybody. Officers sometimes resent it. They have been shot at. They have seen the muzzle flashes. They imagine that some gang leader wants them dead. And they are not too excited when their deputy chief goes out and talks to gang leaders.

Q: There is a perception among some South Bureau residents that the LAPD is an occupying force, that many of the officers live in outlying areas such as Ventura and Orange counties and have no connection with the communities they police or any understanding of the cultural differences that exist. Is there a need for multicultural training for officers?

A: There is no question that every one of us should become more aware of how people think and the differences that people have. But you can’t really teach compassion and understanding. All you can do is exude it as a leader and encourage others and try to break down misunderstandings.

As we move toward community policing, I am absolutely convinced that we are going to find that the distrust is going to mitigate, if not dissipate. And the complaints against officers will go down and the hostility will recede.

Q: How do you go about repairing relationships with neighborhoods whose relationships with the police are not good?

A: First, you’ve got to always be there for them. There’s nothing like being there, listening, spending time, staying until you’re the last one there to hear out everybody. Another way is to allow the officers themselves the breathing room to do that.

Sometimes we overburden officers with so many chores and paperwork that they don’t have the time to do that.

Q: Do you think your officers will be receptive to your ideas?

A: If someone will show a genuine interest in their needs and potential and work with them, and if the officers trust that person’s leadership, they will make some shifts in the right direction.

Q: How would you characterize your administrative style?

A: My approach to leadership is to do my best to support the people doing the job and to serve them as they serve others. I try to set the example and be everything I would like them to be. Am I perfectly like that? Absolutely not. But that’s my standard, and that’s what I try to be.

Q: Should there be residency requirements for officers?

A: You can make an argument that if you had a requirement for police officers to live in the city, that they would still be living in areas outside of their station’s jurisdictions because the city is so large.

What’s more important is a person’s commitment to the community he or she serves. I don’t care where they live. It’s what they do when they are out there serving the people, and how they respond.

Q: Are South Bureau officers committed to the community?

A: It’s not where I want it to be. There’s a lot of work to do.

Q: What are the sources of the officers’ morale problems?

A: They feel like they are the proverbial neglected child in the family. They feel like they are unsupported, that the good, compassionate police work they do is unrecognized. They also feel that there is a lack of support from the brass: captains and above. Another big concern is their equipment. The cars are deteriorated. There is also concern over their unresolved contract.

Q: Do you think those morale problems contribute to public perception that officers just want to work their shifts and go home?

A: Yes. It is a mutually operating downward spiral.

Q: It seems that the rank and file sometimes view themselves as us and everybody else--the community and the brass--as them.

A: Yes. And I forgive officers for it, because I think they have been scandalized far beyond what they deserve.

Q: While you were in the Valley, about 40 officers there completed Spanish lessons that were funded by private organizations. Do you plan to do the same thing here?

A: Yes. I have been talking with the University of Guadalajara about providing instructors. When officers speak the language, it just seems to follow that there’s a better level of trust.

Q: A strong vein of affection for cops seems to run through your comments.

A: I love cops. I think they’re the greatest. First of all, law enforcement is a very noble career. When you’re there with that thought of service above self, and you’re doing that for an altruistic end, it’s a beautiful way to spend your life and career. I just happen to think cops are some of the funniest, friendliest and well-adjusted, fun-loving people you’re ever going to run into.

But I feel that way about the neighborhoods too. I mean, here’s how I look at what I do for a living.

I (went) up in a helicopter to look at the truckers’ strike the other night, and I looked down at my beat, all these lights representing households . . . Well, it’s my job to give them that warm, good feeling that everything’s going to be all right.

Q: That’s really, well, kind of corny.

A: Yes. I guess you could say that.