LAPD continues to pursue leads in shooting of school police officer

The Los Angeles Police Department is continuing an aggressive search for the man suspected of shooting a school police officer last week outside a high school in Woodland Hills.

Police officials said Tuesday they were pursuing multiple leads in the case but did not elaborate on the precise nature of their information.

Chief Charlie Beck told reporters last week that investigators believed the suspect, described as a white man in 40s with a ponytail, was from the local area but declined to give additional details. Authorities also offered a $100,000 reward leading to his arrest and prosecution.

The suspect is accused of shooting L.A. Unified School Police Officer Jeff Stenroos in the chest after the veteran confronted him last Wednesday morning as the suspect was attempting to break into vehicles in the 5500 block of Manton Avenue in Woodland Hills, next to El Camino Real High.

The incident generated a massive police response. More than 3,000 officers swarmed the West Valley, locking down nine schools and setting up a dragnet that encompassed seven square miles as they looked for a suspect described as a white man in his 40s, wearing a bomber or black hooded jacket and blue jeans.

While many expressed frustration and anger at the inconvenience caused by the scope and duration of the operation, LAPD officials defended the decision as necessary to protect the public from a suspect who was willing to shoot an armed officer in broad daylight.

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LAPD chief defends massive dragnet in officer-shooting case

Woodland Hills search area one of largest in recent LAPD history

LAUSD police officer shot in chest near El Camino Real High School

-- Andrew Blankstein

Comments

[abahdabado]

I am a substitute teacher. My home is very close to El Camino High School in the Valley. I was able, first-hand, to watch the LAPD's response to the School Policeman's shooting that occurred earlier this week. I found it to be very typical of other such police responses that I have seen over the years (32) living here in southern California: A massive example of complete arrogance, stupidity and total inefficient leadership at the highest levels of the LAPD, with a lot of help and support from the incompetent leadership that is the essence of the LAUSD.

While observing the police from a distance I counted 28 officers that did nothing except talk, and, I guess, try to pretend that they were serving some protective function. Of course their doing nothing was costing tax payers anywhere from 30 to 60+ dollars an hour. And, they were just the tip of the iceberg. Next time the local news stations break to a developing story involving the LAPD and its moronic approach to policing, take a close look at the helicopter images of all the COPS just standing around doing NOTHING, but ripping the public treasury for their collective stupidity. I have come to the conclusion that most of the leadership at the LAPD are graduates of the LAUSD, as they seem to possess the intellectual brilliance of our typical LAUSD dropout.

Kids were kept in schools for a seven square mile area. They can't go to the bathroom or leave their classrooms. Cops going room by room through the high school, guns drawn, looking for the shooter, who by then was far away laughing his ass of at this collective example of TOTAL POLICE STUPIDITY. Peoples lives totally disrupted, traffic turned into a nightmarte, five helecopters overhead (GOD only knows how much that cost). And the end result - N O T H I N G, absolutly N O T H I N G!!! It was all for NOTHING, except to pay tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay police to play stupid little search games - trying to show the public how powerful and great they are in an emergency, unless of course, like the case of the riots, when you couldn't see a policeman anywhere, when they should have been everywhere.

Obviously we have to face the facts. The LAPD exists for two reasons: 1, to write as many traffic tickets as possible, since the LAPD is now one of the largest sources of tax revenue under the guise of Traffic Safety, and 2nd, their continual use of MASSIVE force to deal with a small problem - to project to the public the false sense, that they are out and in charge of the situation, when in reality, they are just screwing up anything that gets in their way.

[Hakatau]

And they still didn't find him, even after that dragnet farce! Just goes to show how ineffective the police are vs. their high opinion of themselves...

[freshcoldbeer.como]

When ever the police offer a reward, they obviously have no leads in the case..... besides no one will snitch, you put the cash up front for the suspects arrest in a tax free manner and maybe someone will say something

[luther]

What a sad day that when someone shoots a cop, or anyone, and a reward has to be posted for information leading to the individuals arrest. In a sane society anyone with such information would be expected to cooperate and provide the information because it is the right thing to do.

it is interesting how life has changed over the last 20 to 30 years and become so impersonal that it takes money to motivate people to do the right thing. I was recently in tokyo and people parked their bicycles all over town without locking them. i was amazed and asked someone if they are worried their bike would be stolen. the person was amazed also that i would think this way and replied why would someone steal a bike and bring shame to himself and his family. i found the response interesting because life has become to impersonal and so many people only care about themselves.

[JustCause]

The substitute that posted the comment about the police response sounds like they might have applied for a job with the P.D and was not hired and now has to be a subsitute for a teacher. I think the average cop make much more then $50-$60 an hour. I hope the officer that was almost murdered is recovering at home and does'nt read such negative comments.

[diaper rash]

A few thoughts on what and how and why we got to this point:

Let's begin at the top, because that is always where the responsibility lies for the performance of every member of an organization no matter how large.

Chief Beck is a really likable person. That is Problem Number One. Because that quality is not a prerequisite for success in commanding the organization called LAPD. It actually is a serious vulnerability. The greater his effort to maintain likability, the more severe the damage to Chief Beck's ability to control and guide his organization.

Why was Beck the choice to take over following Bratton?

He was the favored choice of Bratton and of the politicians. They favored Beck because he is weak. Villaraigosa and the politicians wanted a chief who is weak so that they can control him.

Bratton may have achieved great success as chief, but after all is said and done - there is nothing more important to Bratton than building and expanding the Bratton legend.

As the LAPD regresses under the ineffective command of Beck, the legend of Bratton's 5 years at the helm is highlighted and delineated.

In a very short time we have indulged the organization as if it were
a rheumatic child. When any child is indulged to such excess it will become spoiled. The spoiled child is often petulant.

Why shouldn't the Valley Division have a bonus payday. Doesn't Valley deserve a bonus day. Metro divisions got Michael Jackson bonus and catered lunch day - that' not fair they got one and Valley didn't.

Deputy Chief Albanese just delivered for his section of the sandbox. Chief Beck says everyone is even now so let's behave ourselves.

The Woodland Hills lockdown will mark a milestone, unfortunately.

Woodland Hills is a quake that will fissure the public trust in the department.

The demographic of Woodland Hills represents the highest levels of education and literacy and self-effectiveness found in our city. Breaking their faith will eventually exact a toll directly on the bottom line.

Real crimes are solved by members of the public proacting in trust-based partnership with trained professionals. They practice a comprehensive data collection and analysis methodology. Those LAPD professionals wear coat and tie and do not drive using sirens or flashing lights. They are detectives.

Woodland Hills also completes an inversion of the pyramid. All of the attention and resources are first to be layed open to the uniformed patrol officers risking their lives on the front lines. Away from the headlines, the detective divisions have no choice but to stay home on scheduled city budget crisis furlough days. The detectives become like the adopted stepchild. This will eventually take a toll on our public safety.

Lastly, bad news for Chief Beck unless he can learn to focus some anger and outrage into throwing a chair, spewing some profanity and maybe ripping a telephone out of the wall. He needs to send a warning based on fear and punishment to every person under his command. He needs to do that to pull the barn door back closed again as the strong-headed egos which ascend to station captain are unleashed to backbite and feud and start doing things their own way, whatever way that may be.

[Montana Gold-]

Abuse of power, civil rights violations... putting all cases to the side to grab a man who shot a vest. The cop did his job, dust him off... give him a raise and put him back. This is turning out good for us... cause the police are showing their biased cult like response to their own being shot, thus us citizens are just a shift, a number, a report to be lost in the archives like all those rape kits. How bout we use that reward money, and more to open those rape kits and get some justice! Sue the L.A.P.D., to get the cash to get real child molestors and rapists out the street... they LOVE releasing rapists! Most.. white. Check that statistics yourself.

[TxToast]

abahdabado you are part of the reason why my kids will never attend LAUSD. There is also a reason why you are a sub and not an actual teacher. You have no understanding what cops do when they are on a perimeter. You complain and whine about your very own employer yet you make it very clear to me that you are part of the cancer that grows from within. If you do not like your employer, do the kids a favor and quit. I can already tell by the way you write that you do not sound like a very inspiring and positive person.

So the bad guy got away for now. The kids and staff are safe yet you still find something to complain about. There were so many thing that could have gone wrong in this scenerio yet they did not. I want to thank the police for the job they do but also apologize to them and tell them that some people here do not deserve them. I would hate to risk my life for people like you. Did getting a ticket make you that angry.

BTW, Montana Gold, you never fail to show up and write your stupidity. Do us a favor and move back to Montana which can help spare us from your garbage writing. Your statements such as when you indicate that the suspect shot at a vest. Do you really think he was aiming for a vest??? Or your other gem when you indicate that the LAPD releases white sex offenders??? Little tip for you, when someone goes to state prison they are no longer handled by the City of LA. Do us a favor and lay off the medical marijuana and the computer for a while.

[Rosemary Rizzo]

I believe the LAPD/city was correct in how they handled this shooting. I would have hoped that the suspect would have been caught by now. I was disturbed about the comments on the conditions in the classrooms during the lockdown. No food, No bathroom breaks doesnt sound good for LAUSD.