Should LAPD Chief Charlie Beck Serve a Second Term?

originally posted at 11:33 a.m. May 20, 2014. Edited to add poll.

Angelenos will be able to weigh in on Charlie Beck's bid for a second, five-year term as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department at community meetings scheduled for June 11 and July 8.

The first meeting will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Westchester Recreation Center, 7000 W. Manchester Ave., Police Commission President Steve Soboroff said.

The venue and time for the second meeting on July 8 has not yet been determined, he said.

The commission has until Aug. 19 to vote in favor or against re-appointing Beck, according to Soboroff.

The public can also give input at a previously scheduled June 12 meeting in Canoga Park and at regular commission meetings, Soboroff said, or submit comments by email to reappointment@lapd.lacity.org.

Beck submitted a letter to the Police Commission last week officially seeking a second term, saying he has led the department through the "toughest financial era since the Great Depression" while overseeing a reduction in crime and gang activity and the completion of federal consent decree requirements.

The LAPD has undergone "tremendous progress" in the 4 1/2 years since he was appointed, and "there is much more to be accomplished," Beck said in his letter to the commission.

"We must continue to rebuild and re-engineer a department that's suffered massive budget cuts," he wrote. "We must continue to be data-driven and help to lead other city departments on the same path. We must enhance our abilities through intelligent use of technology and by doing so fulfill the promise of policing in the 21st century."

—City News Service