Q & A: Sheriff's Capt. Kelley Fraser

Kelley Fraser was named captain of the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station in April. Before taking her current post, Fraser served as lieutenant at the Emergency Operations Bureau with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Her experience also includes fieldwork at the Lennox and Carson sheriff's stations. Fraser has managed tactical planning, emergency response and countywide special events.  She also participates in the "Ask Capt. Fraser" section of the West Hollywood Sheriff's website, where she takes questions from residents. We asked Fraser about public safety enforcement, crowd control and the recent shooting at Guys and Dolls.

West Hollywood Patch: How did you come up the ranks to work as the captain of West Hollywood Sheriff's Station?

Capt. Kelley Fraser: Well, I'd been on the department for about 24 years. I've worked through several assignments throughout my career. And when West Hollywood's prior captain, Buddy Goldman, was going to be promoted to commander, they had an opening. And I was fortunate and very appreciative that I was actually given an opportunity to interview. And I'm very thankful they chose me.

Patch: The city has a population of 36,000 residents and on a given weeknight or weekend, the city's population grows significantly because of the people who come to visit. How do the West Hollywood sheriffs prepare for a crowd like that? How do they manage to patrol all those people?

Fraser: West Hollywood has evolved, but it's not just something that happened overnight. We're very fortunate that we have great businesses that work well with us, like local restaurants, bars and entertainment establishments. We have a relationship with them. They police themselves. They're very mindful of their audiences. They do a great job. We have good people that come here and who really want to enjoy themselves. It doesn't mean we just sit back; we're very diligent in our efforts to make sure that people that do come here feel safe. We have bike patrol, an entertainment policing team, a community policing team and regular patrol.

Patch: At the recent Los Angeles Electronic Daisy Festival, a young girl died from a drug overdose. With the Sunset Strip Music Festival coming up, are you at all concerned that something like that can happen here?

Fraser: We have a concern for public safety. You have to be prepared. We've had the Sunset Strip Music Festival in the past and it's growing. So we really have to look it at and make sure that we're providing all the resources so that nothing like that happens here. Our deputies are trained and they know what to look for. We don't want that to happen here, so we're definitely going to take every precaution.

Patch: With regard to the recent shooting at the nightclub Guys and Dolls, how often does something like that happen in West Hollywood?

Fraser: That doesn't happen very often. That's a good thing for us here. We never want to be complacent for Halloween, the Christopher West Street Parade or the Sunset Strip Music Festival that's coming up. Although we have them every year, we should never expect them to be the same every year. We should always plan and be prepared and make sure we have the correct amount of resources. Guys and Dolls? That's tragic. I've only been here four months and for me to have three people shot. I take it personal. I don't want that to happen in the city. I don't want people to feel that they can come here and bring their violence. I take a lot of responsibility to make sure the community feels safe. [So] they can go out there and walk their dog, they can go out and enjoy themselves at night. That's our job here at the sheriff's station. I take a lot of pride in it and I don't want [an incident like] Guys and Dolls to happen again. Violence is not welcomed in the city.

Patch: Some residents at City Council meetings have complained about the noise from the Sunset Strip that can be heard in their neighborhoods. Do you have any sort of news or advice for those residents?

Fraser: We encourage our deputies to stay on the side streets as much as possible. That's a concern [for us] and making sure [revelers] aren't speeding. They do a great job in enforcing the traffic and making sure we prevent traffic accidents. We take pride in making sure we do the best we can. We're only 1.9 square miles, but we're very dense and we're very populated.