LIGHTS-AND-SIREN RESPONSES SPEEDING UP POLICE.

Byline: James Nash Staff Writer

The Los Angeles Police Department's new policy of responding to more emergency calls with lights and sirens has reduced the time police take to get to emergencies by more than 4 minutes citywide and in the San Fernando Valley, police said Thursday.

Two weeks after making officers respond to certain high-priority calls by using emergency lights and sirens, LAPD leaders said the policy has shortened response times while contributing to only two minor traffic accidents.

``We anticipate a very dramatic improvement in responding to emergency, life-threatening calls,'' Police Chief William Bratton said at his monthly news conference. ``At the same time, we do not expect an increase in accidents involving officers.''

Police previously responded with lights and sirens to only the most dire emergencies. Under the new policy, dispatchers have upgraded some calls to the higher-priority response while downgrading other calls.

In the past two weeks, Los Angeles police have taken an average of 6.5 minutes to get to true emergencies, said LAPD Cmdr. Michel Moore. That's down from the previous average of 10.6 minutes.

In the Valley, the average response time dropped from 11.4 minutes to 7.1 minutes, Moore said.

Police have declared a goal of average response times of 7 minutes or less citywide.

Moore said the most dramatic reductions in response times have come in less densely populated areas such as the West Valley, where police travel longer distances to get to crime scenes and emergencies.

In the LAPD's West Valley division, the average response time decreased from 13.5 minutes to 7.0 minutes since the new policy took effect May 16, Moore said.

Although police have sped up their response to crimes in progress and other life-threatening situations, most routine calls still take at least a half-hour for police to arrive. Officers often take an hour or more for the least urgent calls, such as loud parties, Moore said.

James Nash, [phone]

james.nash(at)dailynews.com