Public safety in the spotlight of T.O. National League of Cities meeting
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

About 60 people from throughout the U. S. came to Thousand Oaks today to attend a meeting of the National League of Cities Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy Committee Steering Committee.

Among those who will gather at the opening reception tonight at the Gardens of the World will be mayors and council members who've come to learn how to make their cities safer. Five committee members, including Thousand Oaks Mayor Dennis Gillette, are from California.

They have come from many states including Alabama, Florida, Texas and North Dakota to focus on issues that will protect their small towns and big cities. Five of the members are from California including Thousand Oaks Mayor Dennis Gillette.

The committee is responsible for policy in the areas of crime prevention, corrections, substance abuse, municipal fire policy, juvenile justice, disaster preparedness and relief, homeland security, domestic terrorism, court systems and gun control, according to league statements.

The group will spend all day Friday at work sessions at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza. Friday evening a reception will be hosted by the city at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley. After additional work sessions Saturday morning, a barbecue lunch will be held at the Hyatt, where local police and fire department personnel will put on a display, Gillette said.

About a year ago, Gillette invited the group to Thousand Oaks. The mayor said he's very proud of the city and is pleased to have the opportunity to show it off to other committee members, who were interested in meeting in the FBI's "safest city in America," he said.

Together, the group plans to tackle important issues that affect U.S. cities and to make recommendations that will go through the system of the National League of Cities with the intent of eventually ending up as federal legislation, Gillette said.

One such issue they're planning to work on is improving the ability of first responders to communicate in an emergency by working with the federal government and the broadcast industry on bandwidth availability, the mayor said.