Residents Seek Police Station in Hollypark Area

After living for 20 years on peaceful, well-maintained St. Andrews Place in Gardena’s Hollypark section, Amos and Elouise Champ were dismayed 6 months ago to see evidence of drug use at a house across the street.

“There was a lot of in-and-out traffic, loud talk, swearing and cars going in and out of our driveway,” said Elouise Champ, 55. The activity continued unabated 24 hours a day, she said.

The Champs counted at least 10 people who appeared to be living in the house.

“We know everybody on the block,” said Amos Champ, 67. “A lot of the families have been here for years, and I had never had . . . one little notion of a problem.”

A few blocks away, neighbors suspected similar activity at another house. Both they and the Champs complained to city officials about what they believe is an increase in crime in Hollypark, a quiet, middle-class section of northern Gardena.

Increasingly Threatened

Duffie Brown, president of the Hollypark Homeowners Assn., said residents feel increasingly threatened and want a police substation built at Rowley Park as part of a $1-million renovation of the park’s community center, which is at Van Ness Avenue and 132nd Street.

The city’s only police station, at City Hall 2 1/2 miles away, is too far, and police patrols in Hollypark are sporadic, Brown said.

“As much as people have complained about the problems of gangs and drugs in the community, the city isn’t pushing for (the substation),” Brown said. “They aren’t dealing with it at all.”

Police officials say crime is no worse in Hollypark than elsewhere in the city, and that a substation would not be the best way improve police protection if there was a problem.

Hollypark has long been considered one of Gardena’s better neighborhoods, an area with one of the highest median incomes in the city. But because Hollypark is next to some rough areas of Los Angeles, it is more vulnerable to crime than other parts of Gardena, Brown said.

Hollypark is “surrounded by potential crime,” Brown said. “We’re bordered by (card) clubs and porno places, and there’s a real problem with drug houses.”

Raided House

Last week, Gardena police raided the suspected drug house across the street from the Champs on St. Andrews Place and another across from the Rowley Park center. Police seized cocaine, but all but one of the 24 people arrested on suspicion of possession and use of the drug were released for lack of evidence, Lt. Phil Shepherd said.

Shepherd acknowledged that there are drug problems in Hollypark but said there was no more than in other parts of Gardena.

Police Chief Richard Propster agreed, saying that the area is densely populated and that crime appears worse than it is.

About 19% of the city’s 50,000 residents live in Hollypark, but just more than 17% of crimes reported citywide occur there, Propster said.

The City Council would have to decide whether to approve a substation at the center, but the issue is not scheduled to go before the council.

“I can understand how the people feel up there, and I think there might be some benefit from (a substation),” said Shepherd, but he said it would not be cost-effective. “Even if we took an office at the community center, we would have to purchase radios, computer equipment” and other gear, he said, and more police officers probably would have to be hired.

“I don’t know where the money would come from. The money’s not there,” Shepherd said.

The city approved a $250,000 increase in the Police Department budget for 1988-89, but that money was used to pay for promotions, increased overtime and radio equipment.

3-Minute Response Time

A substation at Rowley Park would not cut down on emergency-response time because patrol cars are already in the area, Shepherd said. Average response time is about 3 minutes, he said. The City Hall police stationis central to most of the 5.3-square-mile city.

The City Council recently approved plans to build a gymnasium at Rowley Park and to renovate the existing building and kitchen facilities, said Asst. City Manager Mitchell Lansdell.

Propster said the center has “a room that would be amenable to having an officer there for a period of time,” but that they lack the personnel to staff it.

A substation would be less efficient than additional patrol officers, Propster said. “If someone were to ask me today to man a substation at Rowley Park, I would say there would be a better way to deploy officers,” Propster said. “I would keep them in radio cars, keep them mobile.”

The Champs said they were pleased with the Police Department’s quick response to the problem on St. Andrews Place, but Amos Champ added: “I think we need a substation in Rowley Park. I think it would help us out.”

Elouise Champ said she fears the drug activity will start again.

“It’s been a little quieter, but they’re still trying to sneak in and out. I think people are parking on other streets and starting to walk over,” she said. “Maybe if a station was there they wouldn’t stay around.”