PRIVATE CITIZEN PASSIONATE ABOUT COMMUNITY POLICING
By Valerie Shaw, M.PR

I Former film and television editor, Bill Murray, 49, admits that his nine-month-old website, Los Angeles Community Policing at http://www.LACP.org, has taken over his life. He is almost apologetic about the tremendous amount of time he spends tending to the effort, which recently became a California State 501(c)3 non-profit organization (as yet un-funded). "I'm at this every waking moment," he says.

And no wonder. The job of keeping track of the neighborhood by neighborhood community policing efforts of the nation's second largest city is daunting, to say the least.

He's followed the controversial selection process for LA's new Police Chief, covered the affairs of the 18 divisions that make up the Los Angeles Police Department (each of them have a Community Police Advisory Board or C-PAB), and promoted the evolution of one of Criminology's newest sciences, Community Policing. Murray admits, "The site is a far greater effort than I ever intended it to be. It's growing content," he says, "is directly proportional to the nearly overwhelming response I got by the people who instantly recognized its need and value."

Even without promotion, the site is visited by well over 1,000 web surfers weekly and attracts over 20,000 referrals every month. Depending on the current issue, hundreds of loyalists spend up to three hours reading about ever-changing Los Angeles crime statistics, learning of global community policing programs that work, and perusing layers of articles, studies, editorials, and useful community links. There's even an interactive calendar that lists upcoming events.

"The site," says devotee Everett Littlefield, "is up to the minute, not just the week or the day. It's up to the minute about almost anything that happens in Los Angeles in regard to public safety."
It hasn't been easy. "Just to stay knowledgeable and be able to report accurately, I've attended almost all the Police Commission meetings this year, and as many Town Hall, Open House and other events I can fit in," says Murray. "I've been all over town, from San Pedro to the West Valley, from South Central to Northridge … and some of them many times."

It's beginning to pay off as community members get to know the site and are regularly contributing Letters to the Editor, writing or suggesting articles and are helping out in other ways. The phone keeps ringing and the emails pour in.
"This isn't my website anymore," says Murray, "it's OUR website. It's grassroots and belongs to the entire greater LA community. All points of view are welcomed as part of the dialogue. We discuss the problems," he continues, "but not for the sake of complaining, but to arrive at solutions as quickly as possible."
This may have been the longest nine months of Murray's life, for he has forfeited his comfortable salary as a television and film editor, his credit rating, perhaps even his small home nestled in the hills of Montecito Heights, all for the dream of fighting crime and improving the quality of life for all urban Americans.
"There were over 80 homicides this year in one [of the 18] divisions within the LAPD. "That," says Bill Murray, community activist and website producer, "is obscene."

He finds a lot of things about the way the police force is run unacceptable. "For example," he continues, "the operation of each C-PAB is left up to the discretion of the division captain. Some C-PABs are more open to the community, some memberships are appointed and some are filed by application.

"If you have a captain that welcomes community input, like we do at Hollenbeck, the concept works and people get involved in public safety issues. But," he cautions, "there aren't enough captains, like Captain Pesqueira, who feel this way. In some cases C-PAB members have been left completely out of the loop, and then they're no more than mouthpieces for the captain who has appointed the members."
Murray says, "One of the things we should be looking at is a degree of uniformity and support throughout the city. At the very least we should be able to find and communicate with each other."

The Los Angeles Community Policing website is Murray's effort to bridge the gap between law enforcement--the good and the bad--and the diverse communities it serves.
Coming from a long line of volunteer firemen, peacekeepers, and community volunteers, Murray, a native New Yorker, says modestly, "I guess this is my calling." When he became a homeowner in Northeast Los Angeles, Murray organized a Neighborhood Watch program. Next he became an LAPD volunteer, graduating at the L.A. Police Academy. But that training just peaked his interest in the community's role in keeping communities safe. It was at one particular annual C-PAB event that Murray decided to get a network going of other C-PAB members. He was blocked, however, by a system that insists on protecting citizen confidentiality, even when it's not requested, and by some who simply had no interest in a C-PAB network.

"I just wanted to create a way for the Los Angeles C-PAB members to find and communicate with each other," laughs Murray. From that tiny seed of an idea has grown a mighty forest of public safety, crime and civil rights information-all without editorial bias--just a computer click away.

"We're not in anybody's pocket, which means that we're not getting funds from any special interests." Smiling, he heaves a big sigh. "Sometimes I don't know where the money's coming from to keep the website going, I just know that in a city of this size, where the per capita police force is among the smallest anywhere, the Department has to embrace its community and volunteers as a part of their crime-fighting effort.

Community policing, says Bill Murray, is an evolving science that has proven effective all over the world. Two experts who agree and who regularly contribute to the at http://www.LACP.org website are Dr. Arthur A. Jones and Dr. Robin Wiseman, internationally recognized human rights lawyers, legal educators in the United States and Europe, and authors / consultants on international policing, social policy and human rights.

The hour is growing late and Bill Murray sits at his computer with a cold plate of spaghetti beside him. But he's undaunted. Mayor Hahn has recently appointed former New York Police Commissioner, Chief William Bratton to be LA's top cop and Murray is doing his homework. "This is arguably the most important job in the city," declares Murray. "Although the Chief's off to a good start, residents still have a lot of questions." Murray heaves a deep sigh. His eyes close and his head bows, as in prayer. "The citizens of Los Angeles should be able to give input and make suggestions to the Police Department. In every part of our city we need to know that our voices are being heard."

# # #

This article, gleaned from an interview with this maverick activist - a true oxymoron of a man, if there ever was one - may be reprinted, all or in part, without permission. We only ask that you advise Bill Murray at Bmurray3rd@aol.com of your intentions. Mr. Murray also invites full-length interviews at your pleasure.

© Valerie Shaw 2001 All Rights Reserved

All contents are the exclusive rights of the author and may not be copied, excerpted, nor duplicated without the expressed written permission of the author. For questions regarding duplication of this work, send email to author

Related Articles:
"Build It And They Will Come"