Political Adventures of Council Member Najarian.

At the July 17, 2017, Glendale City Council Meeting, Council member Najarian proposed a Chevy Chase Canyon Police Sub Station to deter illegal activity in the canyon. Soon after, his sister, Mrs. Maro Yacoubian, started posting on the nextdoor.com website drumming up support and at the same time turning a simple policing issue into a political agenda. This article addresses the effectiveness of a substation in Chevy chase Canyon area viewed from the perspective of a law enforcement officer with extensive experience far above Mr. Najarian.

Proposing a Police SubStation in Chevy Chase Canyon is not the way to solve the problems that the Canyon residents are concerned about. To the uninformed, the emotional, and the knee jerk reaction people, the SubStation might sound like a good idea. But, it’s not!!

If the residents, working with the Police Chief, really want to solve some problems now, please consider this.

Allow me to qualify myself…I am a Canyon resident, my home is a block from the Fire Station and the proposed Police SubStation, and therefore I have a personal interest in reducing crime and traffic problems in the Canyon. Secondly, I am a retired Station Commander from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department with 32 years of experience, having served with two different law enforcement Departments during my career.

Trust me, a Police SubStation in the Canyon will cost money and will accomplish nothing, except maybe some political points for Ara Najarian…maybe it could be named the “Ara Najarian Memorial Police SubStation”! lol 🙂 Also, to any resident who thinks a SubStation is the answer, I’d be tempted to bet that a SubStation will never happen if the Police Chief has any common sense and does not succumb to political pressure.

The most cost effective, practical, and immediate way to solve the Canyon’s crime and traffic concerns is to assign two motor officers to patrol Chevy Chase Drive/Linda Vista Road (and adjacent streets) from the 2 Freeway overpass to the La Canada Flintridge and Pasadena borders. They should be assigned to work ONLY the Canyon from 7AM to 9PM (adjustable as needs are determined) with overlapping shifts 7 days a week.

Motor officers working traffic would coincidentally be able to stop burglars and would be a visual deterrent for anyone breaking any law in the Canyon. Motor officers are police officers just like those in patrol cars and could be the first responders on burglary calls and other calls of an emergency nature. No need for motor officers to have a SubStation in the Canyon, they are less than 10 minutes from the Police Department Headquarters and if they need coffee, they can stop by the Canyon Fire Station, or our beloved Wild Oak Cafe. 🙂

Of course, these motor officers would have to be reassigned from other areas in the City and that might leave some City areas then feeling under patroled…Oh well, as always, we need to set priorities.

I would propose the motor officers be assigned to the Canyon 7 days a weeks for one month at the most, and then as the need for them tapers off (and, again trust me it will), they could be assigned 3 or 4 random days a week just to keep the bad guys on notice.

This is a solution THAT COULD HAPPEN TOMORROW and would be effective before any SubStation could even be designed or funded. And, if the need to heavily patrol the Canyon is ever no longer needed, the motor officers could easily just be reassigned…no need to abandon a costly SubStation.

Having a SubStation or the sign boards in the Canyon is a nice visual for the residents, but loses any effectiveness very rapidly. Strict enforcement and actual cops in the Canyon will get results quickly and with the least amount of money being invested.

Please note, I’m not here to tell the Chief how to run his Department, but possibly to help him set priorities and nudge him in our direction. Also, I am vastly more qualified to make suggestions regarding law enforcement to the Chief than Ara Najarian, plus I have no political agenda. My agenda is to make the Canyon safer for my neighbors, and me, in the most practical way.

This is A SOLUTION THAT COULD HAPPEN NOW, cost very little (possibly zero, depending on how creative the scheduling person is), and would only require the Police Chief to set some priorities. If the Chief is short on available motor officers, then the City Council should set some priorities and give the Chief some additional motor officer positions or additional overtime. In law enforcement, it is almost always more cost effective to put funding into warm bodies than to spend it on a building, an office, speed bumps, or signage!!

Cops are the deterrent to unlawful behavior, not a SubStation!!