Arsonists Trying to Block Police Station in Projects

In an experiment designed to combat crime in the city’s housing projects, the Los Angeles Police Department intends to open a tiny substation this week in Imperial Courts--if the arsonists don’t strike again.

Twice last week, fires were set at the one-unit apartment that is to serve as the substation, blistering the walls and causing smoke damage throughout. Police officials interpreted the fires as unsubtle indicators that the presence of 10 officers at Imperial Courts will not be welcomed by all.

Sgt. Jerry Goodrich, who will be in charge of the substation, said the fire attacks “were probably attempts to scare us away--but they only made us more determined to get in there.”

As city workers sponged soot off the apartment walls in preparation for a Friday opening, residents of the 498-unit complex in Watts said in interviews that they largely were pleased with the police pilot project.

“We sure need the police out here,” said Jeanne Doolittle, 29, who grew up in Imperial Courts and now is raising her four children there. “When I was little, things were fine here, but now it’s like Vietnam. The shooting and the drugs are making this place like a war zone.”

The establishment of a substation received final approval two weeks ago by the City Council. Staffed by officers who volunteered for the duty, the substation was to have opened Sunday, but fire damage forced a delay. Police officials describe the project as part of a plan to battle gang-related crimes that plague the city’s 21 housing projects. If the six-month trial is deemed a success, other substations will be proposed in many of the Housing Authority’s projects, police officials said.

“From the outside, we can’t be successful in stopping the crime,” said Officer Roger Corso of the Southeast Police Station, who has volunteered to serve at the substation. “We need the help of the neighborhood. And the only way we can get them to help is by establishing a daily relationship with them.”

Corso said the officers assigned to the substation will

file resident complaints and crime reports there and patrol the sprawl of dilapidated, two-story apartment houses. The officers also will hold regular meetings with residents and introduce themselves to new tenants. Corso said it is hoped that such forums will make it easier for residents to confide in the police.

“Right now, people don’t want to be seen talking to the police because they are afraid of what will happen to them,” he said. “But if we go in there every day and talk to everyone--the good residents and the bad ones--it will be harder for the gangs to target who is giving us information and who is just shooting the breeze.”

Last weekend, officers walked among the purple and mauve buildings, explaining the program to residents and soliciting support.

“Some people were a little skeptical because there were rumors that we were going to have a small jail in the substation,” said Goodrich. “But once we told them that we were here to make this a safer place to live and that we were not coming here to spy on people, most approved.”

Nonetheless, some residents remain wary about how the dynamics of life in the projects will be changed by a regular police presence. Many spoke with a reporter only on the condition that their names not be published, expressing fear of retaliation from gang members who stake out the projects as turf.

The firebombings did little to mitigate their concerns. Imperial Courts Project Manager Lynette Ewing said that both fires were started after someone removed the boards that covered the doors and spread gasoline. On Monday, a housing authority worker, armed with several mops, sponges and paint brushes, was cleaning out the unit for the second time in a week and said it should be ready for occupancy by Friday.

“I hope so,” the woman who occupies the apartment next door to the unit said with a touch of skepticism. “It seems like every time the police get ready to move in, ‘Boom!’ somebody bombs the place, and I have to run out of my bedroom.”

The woman, a 35-year resident of Imperial Courts, said the substation is a good idea, explaining that young men in the projects fear even talking to police.

“Maybe that could change if the police are out here every day--talking to the boys, not just arresting them,” the woman said.

Another resident, a 23-year-old mother who moved in about a year ago with three young children, said she, too, welcomed the substation.

“I guess I can handle all this shooting and stuff,” she said as her youngest son slept in a baby carriage. “But my kids can’t protect themselves. I think about moving out of here every day, but right now, I just can’t afford to do it.”

But the young mother said she doubts the substation will improve life in the projects much.

“For the first month, things will be a little quieter,” she said. “But after that, the gangs will find a way to do what they want to do despite the police. I don’t know if anything is stronger than they are.”