Culver Police May Get Rid of its 'Boneyard'

By David W. Myers

Managing Editor

After weeks of debate, the Culver City Council has approved the Police Department's request to spend up to $650,000 to outfit its Duquesne Avenue headquarters with some new office furniture and to fix some of its dilapidated old ones.

The Council's unanimous vote seemed to be swayed by a slide-show presented by a Police spokesman.

The pictures showed office chairs that were missing a leg or arm, computer and telephone power cords strewn about because there was no place to safely put them, dangerously broken desks, and even file cabinets with important documents that were "duct-taped" shut because they wouldn't stay closed.

There was also a photo of what Culver cops call "The Boneyard" in their parking lot. That's where the Police throw seemingly useless office items but save them, so they can later scavenge the heap to see if they can find a useful piece if a bolt or something else inside their headquarters needs to be replaced.

It's been about 20 years since the Police Department bought new office furniture. "That's a long time," said Councilmember Alex Fisch, adding that he didn't want the City to spend up to $650,000 out of its dwindling coffers.

However, Fisch agreed with Vice-Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells that "if the new furniture lasts another 20 years, that's a pretty good return on our investment."

Whether the $650,000 will be enough to finally get rid of The Boneyard isn't known.