Booking van coming to LAPD Harbor Division in San Pedro

A Los Angeles Police Department booking van today will begin transporting prisoners from the Harbor Division station in San Pedro to the 77th Division, relieving officers of the commute that took them off local streets at critical times.

More details about the van will be aounced by Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino.

But initial information indicates that the van will be at the harbor station two days a week to start, expanding to three days — Thursday, Friday and Saturday — at an undetermined date.

“This is a direct result of all the requests from the community,” said Buscaino spokesman Branimir Kvurtac.

A Feb. 4 crime forum at the Waer Grand Theatre in San Pedro drew hundreds of residents who have demanded that the Harbor Division’s jail be opened. It has been closed since it was built due to persoel shortages but LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck promised residents it would be opened within 36 months. A deputy mayor later said the aim will be to open it in half that time.

The booking van is seen as an interim measure that will keep more officers patrolling local streets. Under current operations, suspects must be driven 15 miles north to be booked at the 77th Street station.

It is not clear whether those arrested Sundays through Wednesdays will be held in harbor station until the van is available each week or whether officers will still have to transport prisoners on those days.

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