LOS ANGELES -- A proposal to name a Reseda park after the first Los Angeles Police Department SWAT officer to die in the line of duty was approved Wednesday by a City Council committee.
Officer Randy Simmons died Feb. 7 during a standoff with a young man who killed his father and two brothers inside a Winnetka home. The 20-year-old was shot and killed by officers.
The Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee approved the recommendation to rename West Valley Park after Simmons and sent the proposal to the full council for approval.
Councilman Dennis Zine, an LAPD reserve officer, introduced the motion.
"Officer Simmons always loved children, he was a SWAT officer with a huge heart, and it is appropriate that a children's play area in West Valley Park was just named in his honor," Zine's motion says.
"The selfless devotion to community which Officer Simmons maintained for many years is deserving of even greater recognition. It is appropriate that in addition to the children's play area, the entire West Valley Park be also named in his memory."
