In his 31-year career with the Los Angeles Police Department, William “Bill” Bustos may have crossed your path — maybe on television giving a news conference, maybe near a San Fernando Valley crime scene, maybe at a school campus preaching the consequences of reckless driving.
In 17 years with the LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division he’s become a fixture in Valley public safety circles.
But the veteran detective is getting ready to take a step back. He’s going to retire on Feb. 28. It’s a loss that will indeed be felt, say his colleagues.
“He’s the face of traffic action and prevention,” said LAPD Deputy Chief John Sherman, the commanding officer of LAPD’s Operations-Valley Bureau. “He’s all over it.”
Sherman praised Bustos’ communications skills, and his penchant for reaching communities in English and Spanish.
In a recent interview at Valley Traffic Division in Panorama City, Bustos, 57, said he needed a break.
“Whenever tragedy happens, I respond. And I’m always within a 50-mile radius basically of the Valley on the weekend. So it’s been some hardships with my family with the kids growing up.”
But for years, it was hard to step back. He enjoys the people he works with, he said, adding that he finally found a balance between family and work life.
“Early in my career I was spending an excessive amount of time at work,” Bustos said, adding he would rarely see his son or daughter because of his grueling schedule. “I wanted to be more involved with my wife in raising our kids. Police work is not just a career, or a job, it is a calling because of the commitment and passion one must have to make a positive difference in our community.”
Bustos distinguished himself with proactive, creative and effective media props that attracted and hold people’s attention, Sherman noted.
“Police work is not just a career, or a job, it is a calling because of the commitment and passion one must have to make a positive difference in our community.”
— LAPD Det. William “Bill” Bustos
Ahead of New Year’s Day, for example, Bustos helped coordinate a media event that included a Metro bus, a crashed car involved in a DUI fatal collision and a hearse with a coffin. It was typical of the way he urged people to avoid driving drunk, including taking the bus instead of getting behind the wheel, to avoid embarrassing arrests, painful penalties and potentially life threatening injuries.
“My theory is to do as much prevention, try to prevent traffic collisions from occurring, than have to respond to investigate another traffic collision where someone was injured or killed,” Bustos said of his tactics.
Capt. Andy Neiman, commanding officer of LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division, called Bustos — an immigrant from Ecuador — one of the most committed and dedicated investigators and managers he has met.
Bustos has a “true passion” for traffic safety, Neiman said, and has dedicated himself to educating the public through the media, whether in English or in fluent Spanish.
“He recognizes the need to inform not only the general public but specifically the members of our immigrant communities who are not familiar with the laws and regulations here in Los Angeles,” Neiman explained. “Bill has really become a steward of information for our immigrant communities as well as our general public.”
#LAPD Recipients of the Dan Danko Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Public Safety with @Mitch_Englander @LAPDSherman DIII Bustos pic.twitter.com/viT5nTE1WG
— LAPDValleyTraffic (@LAPDVTD) October 13, 2017
Bustos may have had more camera time than any other top official within the department, Neiman said.
Neiman said he recalls eating lunch with Bustos on several occasions, where members of the public “are twisting their head and recognizing him,” he said.
While some aren’t sure where they know him from, most recognize him from seeing him on television or in the newspaper, he said.
Bustos wears a U.S. Army pin on his uniform to pay tribute to the men and women he served with from 1982-1986, Neiman said. And he was recently honored in his native Ecuador for his work.
Omar Unda, the consul general of Ecuador in Los Angeles, said Bustos is well known to the Ecuadorian community.
Unda, who met him briefly at an Ecuadorian community event last month in Los Angeles where he was honored, said in an email that he was moved by his humility and conviction.
“I could see in him his great commitment to work and the complexity of it when it comes to dealing with highly emotional and absolutely unpredictable events,” Unda wrote in Spanish. “A few days later, I saw him in a television interview at 5 in the morning, giving important information to the community with the same humility and professionalism.”
https://twitter.com/LabradaAl/status/956279419621974016
Once Bustos leaves, the department will advertise the post and interview detective candidates who apply, Neiman said.
“They are going to have some big shoes to fill,” he said.
Bustos, who graduated from Eagle Rock High School in the late 1970s, said his plan is to come back and become a reserve officer assigned to the media relations at some point.
Neiman approves of Bustos’ media relations plan.
“It would be a perfect venue for him to do the good work he does,” Neiman said.
