Council OKs Police Offices in Housing Projects to Cut Crime

In an effort to cut crime at public housing projects, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved a pilot program that would establish satellite police offices on project grounds.

The six-month program, which will begin April 23 at the crime-plagued, 498-unit Imperial Courts project in Watts, could eventually be expanded to many of the Housing Authority’s 21 public housing projects.

“Criminals will get the message: This is not the place for them to do their business,” said Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who authored the ordinance.

Deputy Chief William Rathburn of the Los Angeles Police Department said a sergeant and 10 officers who volunteered for the pilot program will be regularly assigned to Imperial Courts. The LAPD will work with two officers of the Housing Authority’s police force, using a converted apartment as their headquarters.

Rathburn called the pilot program “a preventive process” and predicted that it will cut crime in and around the project.

He said that “a different kind of police work” is involved, combining community relations with crime fighting.

Rathburn said the LAPD sees the program as the second phase of its Operation Hammer, which is an effort to crack down on gang- and drug-caused crime. The first phase included massive police sweeps and raids on rock cocaine houses.

In this new phase, Rathburn said, “we want to build a relationship with the people in the projects. . . . When a new tenant moves in, police officers will knock on the doors and introduce themselves.”

He said officers will not “just run around stiring up a lot of dust (chasing criminals), we want to be pro-active. . . . We want to build a relationship of trust.”

Under the program, he said, at least one or two officers will be on the grounds of Imperial Courts 24 hours a day, if possible.

Resident Favors Program

Paulette Kennedy, president of the Imperial Courts Residents Assn., said she favored the full-time police presence. But she cautioned against aggressive law enforcement without the officers first getting to know the residents.

And Kennedy asked the council what will happen when the six-month pilot runs out. Residents have been disappointed by other government programs, such as one that funded a gymnasium but left out money to buy basketballs.