Crime & Safety

LAPD Northeast Gets New Patrol Captain

Jennifer Thomas wants to reduce crime as well the "fear of crimes in the community."

Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Jennifer Thomas has been with the LAPD for the past 18 and a half years in a variety of assignments, including in gang units and as an investigator in the Asian Crime division (focused on crimes involving suspects or victims of Asian origin).

Thomas begins a new assignment Sunday as the head of the patrol unit in the Northeast. She replaces Capt. Joseph Hiltner, a veteran officer who recently retired, about nine months after he was removed from the Foothill Division for allegedly failing to act against officers accused of using excessive force during a videotaped arrest. (Hiltner accused LAPD Chief Charlie Beck of retaliation and sued the LAPD.)

For about the past week or 10 days, Thomas has been transitioning between her previous job and the current one, making several daily trips between the police headquarters downtown and the Northeast station.

Her previous post was Adjutant to the Special Assistant for Constitutional Policing, where she helped a civilian deputy chief oversee the LAPD’s fiscal operations, planning and research, legal affairs, and audits and inspections.

Thomas, whose maiden name is Chen, grew up in the San Gabriel Valley after emigrating from Taiwan to the United States at the age of 15 years. She's married to LAPD Lt. Brian Thomas, who has served in the Northeast Division previously.

Thomas met with Patch recently at the Northeast Station for an early morning interview as she prepared for yet another day of shuttling between her old job and the new one. Excerpts:

Patch: What are your goals as the Northeast Division’s patrol commander?

Capt. Jennifer Thomas: To work with the community to reduce not just the number of crimes but the fear of crimes in the community. I also want to make sure we are utilizing our officers—our resources—to decrease the number of crimes and deal with the quality of life issues.

And the only way we are going to address those issues is to really get to know the community and listen to what the concerns are in the community. What we think is important may not be what the community thinks is important.

Patch: Why is it important to decrease the fear of crimes?

Thomas: I’ll give you an example. We can say we have made 10 arrests of robbery suspects or theft suspects. But if we don’t change the perception of the community they will still believe there are crimes in their area—there will still be that fear. So decreasing that fear increases the quality of life of where people live.

Patch: It also encourages the community to report  more crimes.

Thomas: Absolutely. I want to encourage the community to reach out to us and tell us what’s going on in the community. However minor the issues, when they are reported to us it allows us to know what are the community’s concerns.

Patch: What’s a typical day like for you?

Thomas: Other than meetings, I go to roll call—I’m very active talking to the officers to find out where our crime problems are. I listen to [police] radio calls because I’m constantly monitoring the area’s problems. Every day is different. It’s not just behind the desk or in meetings. I’m really active—I’m always going out and doing different things. Just last week, there was a helicopter crash in Griffith Park—and I’m out there. So, my typical day is not just in the office or in meetings. I like to be outdoors. I’m constantly intermingling with the officers, meeting with community members to find out what their concerns are.

Patch: What are some of the hotspots in the Northeast that you’ll be focusing on?

Thomas: Just from a couple of the meetings I’ve attended, I know that in the Highland Park area there are some crimes that we need to focus on. There’s East Hollywood. So far those are the two areas in which I want to make sure we’re deploying resources to address BFMVs [Burglary From Motor Vehicles], stolen cars, thefts and violent crimes such as robberies. We look at these crimes on a daily basis and also on a weekly basis.

Patch: I understand that next week senior lead officers will be put on patrol duty instead of focusing on their designated neighborhoods because many officers are on vacation.

Thomas: Yes, a lot of officers take vacations in the summer time, so we try to get all the senior lead officers to help out. If we have specialized units, we ask them to come back out to help—to make sure we have plenty of officers on the streets. And even though they’re on patrol, the officers are still working on their problem issues.

Patch: How many officers report to you?

Thomas: I don’t have an exact number, but I would say about 150.

Patch: How do you feel starting out?

Thomas: I’m really excited. Both my husband and I come from a family of [police] officers. My grandfather and uncle are police officers in Taiwan, and my husband’s father is a retired detective in the Montebello Police Department. So I’m really excited to be captain.

Patch: How does your husband feel about remaining lieutenant while you become captain?

Thomas: Oh, he's very supportive. Until now, we've always been promoted together, although I've been in the department for about a year longer than him.


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