Van Nuys Boulevard Foot Patrol Planned

Uniformed RTD transit police officers began foot patrols on Van Nuys Boulevard between Oxnard Street and Sherman Way Monday in response to complaints by merchants about minor crime in the business district, RTD Board President Nikolas Patsaouras said.

The foot patrols, which will be conducted intermittently during the day, were also being deployed in response to complaints from Councilman Ernani Bernardi’s office about groups of rowdy teen-agers harassing senior citizens at bus stops, Patsaouras said.

The patrols will pull transit officers off the buses and onto the streets because much of the crime on Van Nuys Boulevard occurs near bus shelters, where large numbers of people congregate, Patsaouras said. If people are afraid to walk along Van Nuys Boulevard, he said, “they’re not going to shop and that will hurt the merchants.”

The number of officers involved and the hours that they will patrol will be determined after the RTD Transit Police assesses the situation, Patsaouras said.

Last September, the RTD began similar foot patrols on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles and also deployed 22 uniformed officers to ride buses in the San Fernando Valley.