Local of 20 years has worked with various city groups, which earned him an award last week.

GLENDALE - Longtime resident Kenneth Esteves' duties extend beyond the city limits. He volunteers as the president of the William H. Parker Los Angeles Police Foundation and works at developing the Los Angeles Police Department West Point Leadership Program.

Esteves' relentless and tireless service to the program was honored recently by the police department, which awarded him its Meritorious Unit Citation last week.

"I am just really fond of community service," Esteves said. His enthusiasm for the program and the police foundation is driven by a motivation to give back. The award came as a surprise to Esteves, but he was touched by the honor.

"I am not a person who likes accolades," he said. Esteves, 59, who also is a Specialist Reserve Officer, set up speakers for the program and redid a classroom for the program, as well as organizing its graduations. Police officers from throughout the United States attend the program, where they learn to incorporate law enforcement skills with United States Army leadership theories taken from the West Point Academy in New York.

About 1,000 law enforcement officers go through the program every year. Through his role in the foundation, Esteves was able to get funding for the program's training and equipment, which is not supported by a city's general fund.

The program helps police officers get additional training and the chance to earn master's degree credits. Esteves, who has lived in Glendale for 20 years, has been a foundation member for 12 years and its president for four years.

"The whole foundation is a lot of good," he said. "We are just trying to make the streets a lot safer." To free neighborhoods from danger, the foundation tries to provide police officers with necessary training and equipment, such as police dogs and bomb and DNA training, Esteves said.

Foundation member Harry Waterstone has worked closely with Esteves to get funding for police services. "He has been a leader in our efforts," he said. But Esteves has always had an affinity for police work.

He was a Police Explorer for the Los Angeles Police Department's youth program in the 1960s. Getting involved in the foundation and program was a natural transition for him, he said.

Esteves, who works at a carpeting business, also outfitted the police academy's crumbling carpet with new carpeting by getting carpet suppliers to do it for free, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Steve Williams said. "He is a doer," he said. "He does what he says he is going to do."

Williams, who has known Esteves for 11 years, believes Esteves is dedicated to getting funding for police services. "He really doesn't have to do all this work for the police department, but he enjoys community service," he said. Esteves, who also is an artist, painted several art pieces that hang in the program's classroom, Williams said.

Along with providing community service to the police department, Esteves also focuses on his art, which depicts musical scenes like jazz bars or nightclubs. His artwork can often be seen displayed in international exhibits, including a show Saturday at the Modern Art Gallery in L.A.

But to Esteves, making Los Angeles and its surrounding communities, like Glendale, safe takes center stage. "We all have to do a little something to make our lives in the city better," he said.