Foot Patrols OKd by City for Areas of High Crime

Prodded by emotional pleas from residents of a crime-plagued neighborhood, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday pushed through a plan to deploy large squads of police foot patrols in the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods.

The program, dubbed SAFE--for Secured Area Footbeat Enforcement--by Los Angeles police officials, calls for several patrols of 10 to 20 officers each to be bused to epicenters of gang activity and drug dealing.

The areas would be chosen from among 18 “hot spots” identified from recent crime statistics. The locations range from an area in the northwest San Fernando Valley’s Devonshire Division to housing projects in South-Central Los Angeles and the Harbor area.

The council’s 10-5 approval of the $3-million program came after an acrimonious debate on how to pay for it. It brought an outburst of cheers from residents of the Koreatown-Wilshire district, west of downtown, who have been fighting for foot patrols and who testified about their problems Tuesday.

‘Shooting Every Night’

Lynne Farr, spokeswoman for a group of about 75 residents, told the council there had been three homicides in her neighborhood since June. “There are shooting every night,” she said. “Going grocery shopping feels like being . . . in Vietnam.”

Councilman Nate Holden, whose district includes the troubled neighborhood, angered several of his colleagues when he insisted on bypassing the normal committee and staff study route and pushed for a vote while the anxious residents looked on.

At first, Holden’s colleagues, disturbed by his maneuverings and the lack of a way to pay for the program, postponed action and referred the matter to committee.

But that brought a boisterous outcry from residents, whom Council President John Ferraro had erroneously denied the right to speak on the matter. The residents were then allowed to speak, and afterward Councilwoman Gloria Molina asked for reconsideration and immediate implementation of the program.

A heated discussion ensued, with some council members complaining about being pressured into action without adequate deliberation and Holden denying that he had anything to do with the public demonstration. Residents said a Holden aide had alerted them that the matter would be coming up Tuesday.

Some council members also criticized the Police Department for the hasty manner in which the proposal surfaced. At one point, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky got into a shouting match with Deputy Police Chief Robert Vernon at one side of the room.

In the end, the council gave the program the go-ahead without finding a way to pay for it.

Yaroslavsky said he may propose that the program, which he said he supports, be financed out of the existing Police Department budget. Others said the money could be taken from city reserve funds.

Support Not Certain

LAPD Cmdr. William Booth said it is unlikely that Chief Daryl F. Gates would support the foot patrols if the department is not given additional money to cover them.

The day-and-night patrols would focus on high-crime areas of several square blocks and remain “until we really get control. . . . We’ll take back an area,” Vernon said. He added that the patrols could start within three weeks.

Foot patrols of two officers each are not new to the city, but deploying large, concentrated units of walking officers to roam residential areas represents a new tactic in the war on street crime, Vernon said.

AREAS TARGETED FOR FOOT PATROL PROGRAM San Fernando Gardens housing project, Pacoima Blythe Street, Van Nuys Lanark Park, Canoga Park Columbus Avenue, north San Fernando Valley Vineland Avenue, North Hollywood Aliso Village housing project, East Los Angeles Glassell Park, East Los Angeles Garment District area of downtown MacArthur Park near downtown The Coliseum, southwest of downtown Slauson Avenue and the Harbor Freeway Hollywood and Vine, Hollywood Oakwood housing project, Venice Pueblo Del Rio housing project, South Los Angeles Imperial Courts housing project, Watts Nickerson Gardens housing project, Watts Jordan Downs housing project, Watts The Normont Terrace housing project in Harbor City