An open house will be held at the Long Beach Police Department’s downtown Public Safety Building this Saturday to celebrate the reestablishment of its South Patrol Division this year.

The open house will be held Saturday, December 16 from 11:30AM to 2:30PM and will feature tours of the facility, meet-and-greets with officers, equipment displays, refreshments and welcoming remarks at noon.

The South Division is located within the Public Safety Building, which doubles as LBPD’s headquarters at 400 West Broadway.

“Restoring the South Patrol Division will improve the safety of our community and demonstrates the City’s commitment to use Measure A funds to enhance public safety as promised,” said Mayor Robert Garcia in a statement.

The South Division was restored thanks to funds from the Measure A sales tax passed by voters last year after it was dismantled during the recession as part of the city’s budget cuts. The division was reestablished with eight sworn police positions and two civilian positions. It began deploying out of the Public Safety Division on November 18.

“We are very pleased to be able to restore the South Patrol Division Operations to the Public Safety Building,” said Police Chief Robert Luna. “We’re extremely grateful to our residents for supporting Measure A, which is allowing us to provide enhanced community oriented policing in the downtown area.”

The South Patrol Division  encompasses the area of Anaheim Street to Harbor Scenic Drive and the Los Angeles River to Cherry Avenue.

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