I would like to thank and commend your publication, and reporter Suzanne Marcus Fletcher for the excellent article she wrote on our Vital Intervention and Directional Alternatives (VIDA) Program.
As the captain of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Bureau, I appreciate that Ms. Fletcher had her facts straight, did an exceptional job of including the program’s elements and she did it with style. Her article was informative, very interesting and quite easily read, and I’m sure it will be appreciated by the public we serve, as well as our excellent deputies and marines in the program.
This program is another excellent example of how the Sheriff’s Department is reaching out to all communities under the leadership of Sheriff Lee Baca.
When he saw this program working so well, after being started by two deputies on their own time at East Los Angeles sheriff’s station, he ordered it be expanded to all the sheriff’s stations. In addition, he directed that the program be made available to any youngster within Los Angeles County.
On January 15, 2000, this program was started at 11 additional sites (12 total with ELA) and since has expanded to 14. Over 500 youngsters have successfully graduated through the program and we are tracking their continuing progress after graduation. Parents, schools, courts and law enforcement officers have commended the program and the results, and we’re doing everything in our power to help it continue to grow.
Articles like yours are a great assist to our efforts and I thank you again for your excellent coverage.
Captain Ken Johnson
L.A. County Sheriff’s Department
Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Bureau