Howard Berman to tout law enforcement backing Thursday

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Rep. Howard Berman, who is waging a tough battle with fellow Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman for a newly drawn San Fernando Valley congressional district seat, plans to trumpet some major law enforcement endorsements Thursday.

And while he’s at it, his campaign says, he’ll “set the record straight” on Berman’s “public safety accomplishments.”

Berman will be joined at a morning news conference in downtown Los Angeles by Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley -- one of several Republican elected officials who are backing the congressman -- Los Angeles Police Protective League official Paul Weber and other law enforcement leaders. Longtime Berman ally and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky also is scheduled to attend.

Sherman and Berman have been sparring lately over the effects of federal COPS grants that Berman helped push through to add police officers to Los Angeles’ ranks in the 1990s. Sherman said at a candidates’ forum last week that the money brought only 12 additional officers to the Valley. Berman, and presumably the law enforcement officials attending his news conference, will beg to differ.

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-- Jean Merl