Revival of Drug Unit Must Wait, Panel Says

The Los Angeles Police Commission told a group of east San Fernando Valley residents Tuesday that the city could not immediately re-establish a special anti-drug police unit in a Pacoima neighborhood infested with drug trade.

Members of the Mercer-Haddon Homeowners Assn. had asked the commission to replace the officers once assigned to Rapid Enforcement Centered on Narcotics--RECON--a unit formed in March, 1988, to attack drug dealing in the community. The unit was disbanded in July because of a shortage of officers, police officials said.

“We got rid of the dealers, we got rid of the prostitutes,” said Irene Tovar, an East Valley community activist. “But to our dismay, we discovered a month ago that the drug peddlers started coming back.”

Assistant Police Chief Robert L. Vernon told the dozen residents at the commission meeting that no extra officers could be assigned to an anti-drug unit in the neighborhood until more officers graduate from the police academy at the end of the year. Vernon said the Foothill Division had lost about five officers due to attrition in the past six months.

Tovar asked that the department replace the unit immediately or that the commission provide a timetable for creating a new anti-drug unit in the East Valley. But Commission President Robert M. Talcott said replacing the unit immediately would be impossible because it would mean reassigning officers from other areas.

“We’d love to give you a quick answer, but we can’t,” Talcott said. “Your desires affect the entire city.”