Pushers Pushed Out in Pacoima : Neighbors Celebrate Turnaround

Like victorious soldiers home from a hard-fought battle, more than 150 Pacoima adults and children danced in the street Saturday to celebrate the transformation of their neighborhood from a crime-laden dumping ground for abandoned cars to a safer residential showplace of carefully tended yards.

“We’re going to be the Valley’s Beverly Hills,” boasted Billie Jean Thomas, standing amid crepe-paper streamers and strands of multicolored balloons attached to fences, light posts and trees along the street.

Thomas and 38 other residents last December formed Vista Gardens Neighborhood Watch, a crime-prevention program the neighbors credit with reviving the once run-down stretch of Weidner Street bordered by Dronfield and Borden avenues.

‘Don’t Lock Doors’

“It is beautiful,” said John L. Marable, a resident of Weidner Street for 30 years. “We don’t even have to lock our doors anymore.”

Just six months ago, residents say, eyesores such as overgrown lawns, unkempt gardens and abandoned and junked cars dotted the street. Heavy drug trafficking had become commonplace as dope dealers cruised in front of the homes, peddling cocaine and other illegal drugs to neighborhood teen-agers.

“Sometimes you couldn’t drive through because all of the traffic from drug dealers,” said Pedro Ortiz, who has lived in the neighborhood three years.

The drug dealing “took place practically 24 hours a day,” Thomas said. “The kids and young people were running out to the passing cars, making drug buys, and that’s when we decided to come together and say, ‘Hey, that’s enough.’ ”

With the help of police, Thomas and her neighbors launched a quiet, yet effective, attack against the drug trafficking. Telephoning descriptions of suspected dealers and the license-plate numbers of their vehicles into the police became part of a daily routine for most.

“We let it be known that, on this street, they were being watched, and it soon drove them away,” said Mary Craddock, who has lived on Weidner 30 years and acts as publicity chairman for the group. “It’s really amazing to know that you can do it if you want to.”

Neighbors Watch Property

Craddock and Thomas credit widespread and regular participation by residents for the organization’s success. The two women estimated that more than 90% of the residents have attended the Neighborhood Watch’s twice-a-month meetings. Neighbors have kept a close eye on each other’s property, reporting suspicious vehicles or strangers to police.

Since the program’s inception, Thomas said, there have been fewer burglaries in the neighborhood. By April, most of the drug traffickers were chased from the street, and the residents, infused with new pride, decided to take the program a step further and arrange a special cleanup day.

“It was a day for everyone to throw all their junk out,” said Craddock.

Discarded refrigerators, stoves, washing machines, car parts, shrubbery and even a piano were among the three loads of trash hauled from the neighborhood in city-owned garbage trucks, she said.

Now, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Ken Dionne, who works with residential crime-prevention groups, rates the Vista Gardens Neighborhood Watch as one of the best in the Foothill Division.

“I think it ranks pretty close to the top,” Dionne said. “This one is successful because of the citizen involvement. The work is really done by the citizens.”

Burglaries Decrease

Since the watch was formed, Dionne said, burglaries in the neighborhood have decreased about 50%. “If burglaries have gone down, all other crime usually falls, too, because, generally, burglaries are committed for money to buy drugs,” he said.

With the job well done, the neighbors agreed last month that a first-ever block party was in order.

“We’re rewarding ourselves for doing such a good job,” said Thomas. “We’re just going to eat, converse and have a good time.”

And that’s just what the residents did for more than four hours Saturday afternoon.

With soul and rock music blaring from four large speakers, groups of adults readied potluck and dessert dishes under the awnings of two recreational vehicles parked in the center of the block. City Councilman Ernardi Bernardi was among the guests, as were several law-enforcement officials.

Throughout the afternoon, children who live on the street played tag, danced and gathered around Gilberto Vega as the 10-year resident prepared to hang his five hand-made pinatas, stuffed with assorted candies and roasted peanuts, from overhead tree branches.

Early Risers for Lunch

Off to the side, Hosie Campbell and three neighbors prepared pounds of ribs, steaks, chicken and franks in three portable barbecues. It was a task that pulled the four men from bed shortly after sunrise, but they didn’t seem to mind.

“Crime is down, dope sales are down, and the neighborhood is getting better. Everybody is putting more effort into fixing up their place,” Campbell said.

“We’re trying to set an example for all of Pacoima and the whole Valley, and we’re doing a real good job,” said Marable.