An Uneasy Watch : Residents Walk Night Patrols at Crime-Plagued Condominiums in Sylmar

After drug trading became pronounced in the streets near Dronfield Villas condominiums in Sylmar, the residents decided they had to do something.

First, they hired professionals, paying a private security company $357 a month to patrol the 72-unit development. But “the guards didn’t show up on time,” recalled resident Scott Kuklin. “And, when they were here, they didn’t really care.”

So Kuklin and his neighbors decided to do the job themselves.

Since early April, they have gone out each night in pairs, working half-hour shifts from dark to 2 a.m., patrolling the block with flashlights, walkie-talkies and, at times, guns.

The amateur security force includes about 25 residents of the $80,000 town houses on Bromont Street, one block south of Foothill Boulevard.

“It’s difficult and we’re burnt out,” Chuck Kerner said, “but it’s better than having dealers and prostitutes around.”

Los Angeles police say the condominium residents are not exaggerating the nearby crime problem.

Drug-Trading Area

The several blocks around them, including the Astoria Gardens low-income housing project, have become the central drug-trading area of Sylmar, according to police. Officers have made about 30 drug-related arrests there since the start of the year.

Police say the residents’ response to the problem is unique in the area.

“The whole commitment by the Dronfield Villas group is very unusual,” Capt. William M. Pruitt said. “In many cases, this kind of thing fizzles out without getting organized.”

The patrols, however, have not been a foolproof solution to crime.

Soon after they began, a suspected drug dealer fired a gun at another man and almost struck two children at the project.

But patrol members say they frequently have driven off drug peddlers, prostitutes and pimps from the condominium parking lots. There have not been any physical confrontations, although they have called police for help half a dozen times, they say.

After residents of other apartment and condominium projects in the area also complained about drug trafficking, a community meeting was held this week with Pruitt and Councilman Ernani Bernardi to discuss the problem and see what authorities could do to help.

One couple said their flower garden was destroyed after they reported drug activity. Others told about a car being demolished by a pipe bomb last fall after a man confronted a cocaine dealer. Others noted that electronic gates around some apartments have been repeatedly vandalized.

$70,000 for Task Force

Pruitt urged the residents to “keep the station phones ringing” with reports of license plate numbers of suspected dealers and with other information. And Bernardi said he has allotted $70,000 from his office budget so that a six-officer police drug task force, funded since March with $245,000 from the City Council, can continue to watch the area through summer.

Bernardi also urged residents not to rely solely on police and to form their own crime-watch groups.

Ana Alvarez, the manager of Astoria Gardens, said residents there already have organized and helped evict five tenants who were suspected of dealing drugs.

The delegation from Dronfield Villas also did not have to be told to organize against crime.

“It’s hard to ignore when there is lead flying,” said Ray Rochelle, a retired naval commander, referring to the April incident in which the suspected drug dealer fired his gun down a driveway.

Although most of the patrol members are men, a few women also join in. They go out two pairs at a time, covering separate sides of the complex and using walkie-talkies to keep in touch with one resident who stays in his unit, ready to call police in an emergency.

They note gang graffiti on walls, shine their lights into parked cars and watch people who get out of cars down the street.

As one of the teams walked along with a reporter Thursday night, a neighbor passed by and called out, “Aren’t you carrying guns tonight?”

The two men simply shushed her and walked on.

Earlier, when asked if they carry guns, one member of the security force said no but nodded his head vigorously for yes.

Police say it is legal for the group to have guns only if they are unloaded and in the open. The patrol members would not discuss the gun issue.

Members of the patrol seem to enjoy the patrols at times, but it can be a chore.

“It’s a terrible commitment because, if it’s a Friday night and we have company, I have to interrupt it,” said Kerner, an aluminum window and door salesman.

“I really don’t like doing this. I’m scared all the time. We do it because we want to keep the place safe for kids, for our wives and for ourselves.”

Kerner added, “We don’t want anybody to get hurt. We leave the heavy stuff to the police.”

At a condominium association meeting Friday night, residents voted for another safety measure. Each household will contribute $350 for electronic gates to limit access to the parking lots.

Two nights earlier, they asked Pruitt if police could help their patrol efforts by donating a huge, high-powered searchlight, the type used by police helicopters. Pruitt promised to come back with an answer, perhaps at his next meeting with residents scheduled for Wednesday.

But he said in an interview later that the searchlight could blind people and would not be given to a community group.

“We totally support them, and wish more groups were like this,” the police captain said. “But they have to use a great deal of common sense and know their limitations.”