Bradley Joins 300 in Protest of Narcotics Dealing in Pacoima

More than 300 chanting Pacoima residents, mostly tenants of housing projects, took to the streets Friday to protest increased drug dealing, marching past two of what police say are among the worst trafficking areas of the community.

Led by Mayor Tom Bradley and other politicians, the group stepped out from Pacoima Park and marched by the San Fernando Gardens and Van Nuys Pierce Park projects, both notorious drug-dealing centers, shouting: “We love Pacoima! Say no to drugs!”

Throughout the late-morning, 1 1/2-mile walk, the crowd carried signs and banners stating “Save Our Children” and “Drugs Fry Your Brain.” One apartment complex manager, Armando Medina, raised a poster above his head reading “Our Residents Say No to Drugs” as he walked past San Fernando Gardens.

Mounting Frustration

The rally grew out of mounting frustration among managers and tenants of seven northeast San Fernando Valley public-housing projects. They said they became fed up with bold drug dealers who peddle narcotics in their alleyways, courtyards and sidewalks, and decided to form an anti-drug coalition.

In June, a Los Angeles police officer was fatally shot outside a Sylmar apartment complex while attempting to apprehend a suspected drug dealer. Two weeks ago, a Pacoima man, angered by drug dealing in his neighborhood, took out a handgun and shot and injured a woman he believed was dealing in front of his house.

‘We Are Stronger’

“It’s time we show the drug dealers that we are stronger than they are,” said Mary Cooley, a 49-year-old grandmother who organized the rally. “We can’t lose any more of our children to drugs.”

Cooley, who leads a crime watch group at the Lake View Terrace Apartment project where she lives, said she hopes the rally will prompt residents to form more vigilant Neighborhood Watch groups and give citizens the confidence to speak out to police when they spot drug dealers in their neighborhood.

“The drug problem in Pacoima has grown far bigger than the Police Department can deal with on its own,” Capt. Arthur Sjoquist of the Foothill Division told the crowd. “But, as a team, we can win the battle.”

Sjoquist said drug dealing in the housing projects has become “particularly acute,” with arrests this year almost three times what they were last year. “The problem has gotten so bad that people are beyond being worried, they feel that they must get involved to stop it,” he said.

He encouraged residents to call police when they spot drug dealers, write down license plate numbers and be willing to testify in court when arrests are made. “We don’t want them to take direct action themselves,” he said.

During the march, 10-year-old Keoni Willis said she was participating because “maybe it will make some of those drug dealers change their minds so I can go outside and play again.”

Members of an evangelical group from neighboring Sun Valley that focuses on converting drug addicts and gang members, sang out: “Once I was a rock head, but Jesus set me free” as they marched along Van Nuys Boulevard.

Bradley, who walked the length of the route, told the crowd that “this kind of unity, this kind of power cannot be stopped. Let this be just the beginning as we deliver the message to those peddling drugs: Be gone, be gone forever.”

Vicente Fajardo, an 18-year Pacoima resident, was one of those who came forward for the first time Friday, angered that the corner of Haddon Avenue and Mercer Street where he lives sounds like a “24-hour auction” because of so many drug dealers.

Fajardo carried a sign reading “Haddon y Mercer Contra Las Drogas ,”--Haddon and Mercer Against Drugs--and said that he was marching “to let the dealers know we are watching them and won’t be afraid anymore.”