Pasadena Seeks a Safe Halloween for Children : Still Scarred by 1993 Slaying of 3 Boys, Officials Stage Party to Get Trick-or-Treaters Off the Streets

Two years after the brutal killings of three youngsters as they left a Halloween party, Pasadena is holding a party to keep children off the streets on this night of ghosts, goblins and more realistic dangers.

The second annual “Halloween Family Affair” party in front of Pasadena’s City Hall includes a free candy-scouting expedition inside the Plaza Pasadena mall down the street from City Hall.

“We had to do it,” said Victor Gordo, youth program coordinator for the community group Day-One Community Partnership, of the city’s effort to get youths off the sidewalks on Halloween. Violence has made the streets unsafe for traditional trick or treating, he said.

The 1993 Halloween murders of Stephen Coats and Reggie Crawford, both 14, and Edgar Evans, 13, shook city residents deeply. Three men are now on trial in the killing of the youths, who had no gang connections.

The party is just one of the changes wrought in Pasadena by the killings. An anti-violence group that formed after the killing came up with a groundbreaking ordinance to register ammunition, which was approved by the Pasadena City Council last year. Candlelight vigils for victims of violence have become a familiar sight. And 35 temporary restraining orders were recently approved against alleged gang members to curb their activities.

Still, the city struggles with youth violence. A report being prepared by the RAND Corporation has found that violence among youths in Pasadena is on the rise, particularly among older teen-agers just out of high school.

“Nobody knows why those 18- and 19-year-olds are killing each other,” said Peter Greenwood of the RAND Corporation.

Thus events such as the one scheduled for tonight have been developed to keep Pasadena children safe.

More than 700 children showed up at last year’s party and organizers expect more than triple that number this year thanks to a larger budget and increased advertising, Gordo said. The party will include a haunted house, disc jockey costume contest and face painting.

“It’s appropriate to create an environment of safety from what evils that lurk in the night,” said Pasadena Police Cmdr. Gary Bennett. The police are among the sponsors. This Halloween, he said, parents will not have to worry where their children are or what type of candy they get from strangers.

The affair is just one part of the citywide effort to rid Pasadena of violence.

A multiracial citywide effort to combat the growing violence of Pasadena’s gangs emerged from the murders of the three boys.

“Some people decided they were going to say no to the violence,” said Giselle Franco. Franco heads the Coalition for a Nonviolent City, a private nonprofit effort that was founded after the killings.

Last year, a coalition initiative to register all purchases of bullets passed the City Council.

This summer, despite the city’s financial insecurity, Pasadena continued a hiring freeze to fund an anti-gang program--another move supported by the coalition.

The group is creating a library with information on anti-violence programs and is looking into pushing a new law to ban the sale of Saturday night special handguns in the city.

The coalition provides moral support for victims as well. Each time someone falls victim to gang violence, the group holds a candlelight vigil so that no one forgets the problems the city faces. Since its founding two years ago, the coalition has held at least 20 ceremonies, Franco said.

Last Thursday, Pasadena Mayor Bill Paparian and Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti announced the approval of 35 temporary restraining orders on alleged gang members to restrict their illegal activities in the city’s troubled northwest corner.

“[The murders] galvanized the community,” said Ann Erdman, public information officer for the city. “It was a wake-up call.”