The Burbank Police Department and members of the community will not
likely forget what happened the night of Nov. 15 in a Ramada Inn
parking lot.
Rookie officer Matthew Pavelka, 26, was killed during a shootout
outside the hotel on North San Fernando Boulevard, and fellow Officer
Gregory Campbell was critically wounded.
Pavelka became the first officer slain in the department's 82-year
history. Campbell survived and continues to recover at a local
hospital.
One of the two men who police said opened fire on Pavelka and
Campbell during a routine traffic stop, 25-year-old Ramon Aranda, was
shot and killed during the gun battle. The other man, 19-year-old
David A. Garcia, eluded law enforcement for nearly two weeks before
Mexican authorities took him into custody in Tijuana.
Garcia, a suspected gang member from Sun Valley, was charged with
murder and attempted murder, and remains in jail without bail
awaiting a preliminary hearing date. Prosecutors could seek the death
penalty.
"This was a loss to everybody, to the family, the city and the
department," Burbank Police Capt. Gordon Bowers said. "But the
support from the community has been overwhelming.
"To a certain degree, we will never move on," Bowers said. "We
want [Matthew] to be part of the tradition of the things we honor.
From that perspective, we don't want to ever move on, because a big
part of law- enforcement tradition is respect for people who brought
law enforcement to the professional level it is now."
City, school district
deal with budget woes
In June, the City Council voted unanimously to approve a proposed
$412.5-million budget for the 2003-04 fiscal year, which included
cuts in several areas to overcome a projected $9.5-million deficit.
Increased city employee compensation and benefit costs, along with
rising general liability and workers' compensation costs, were among
the biggest contributors to the deficit, city officials said.
Additionally, the city received less funding from the state, which
was faced with a deficit of its own.The city planned to eliminate 62
full-time positions, 50 of which were vacant by June. Ten of the
remaining employees were past retirement age and were offered a
supplemental retirement package. To lessen the effect on the two
remaining employees to be laid off, the council opted to fund their
positions for an additional six months.
A variety of city fees were increased as a result of the deficit,
including monthly parking permits from $20 to $25 and film permits
