Second Area Barricaded in Drug Fight

Police barricaded a second Sepulveda neighborhood Wednesday and posted signs saying “Secure Area” instead of “Narcotics Enforcement Zone.”

But the purpose of the roadblocks remained the same as it was in November when police put up the “Narcotics Enforcement Zone” signs in the nearby Columbus Avenue area--to keep drive-by drug buyers off residential streets, authorities said.

Roadblocks now surround two nearby neighborhoods that are separated by Sepulveda Boulevard, which remains a through street. The entire 20-square-block area is bounded by Nordhoff Street on the north, Parthenia Street on the south, Burnett Avenue on the east and Orion Avenue on the west.

The wording of the signs in both neighborhoods was changed after landlords said they were worried that prospective tenants would shun apartments in areas labeled as drug zones, said Greg Nelson, press deputy to Councilman Joel Wachs, who represents the area.

“We didn’t want it to seem like a war zone,” Nelson said.

The Orion Avenue area appeared peaceful Wednesday as Wachs and police officials assembled there to announce the new street closures, which they said will remain in effect for at least a month.

However, the area has long been known as a violent drive-by drug market, said Capt. Mark D. Stevens of the Los Angeles Police Department. Stevens said erecting barricades around the nearby Columbus Avenue area has dramatically reduced crime there and should work equally well in the Orion Avenue neighborhood.

For instance, in the police district that includes the Columbus Avenue area, the number of aggravated assaults, which often are associated with drug activity, decreased 34% during the first week the barricades were erected compared to the same period the year before, Stevens said. There were 15 aggravated assaults during the week of Nov. 7, 1989, compared to 23 the year before, he said.

“We’ve had almost a complete absence of drug dealing,” he said.

But some police officials have said the drop in crime comes at the expense of nearby areas, which attract the displaced drug dealers. Shortly after Columbus Avenue was blocked off, narcotics officers arrested more than 40 drug buyers in a two-day period on nearby Orion Avenue.

Stevens defended the barricading technique Wednesday, saying that narcotics traffic had always been heavy on Orion Avenue. Residents who happened by the news conference Wednesday agreed, citing a long history of disturbances by drug dealers who set up shop on their streets.

Dorothy Reed, principal of Our Lady of Peace, a Catholic school in the barricaded zone, said police officers have frequently used the school library to spy on drug dealers before arresting them.

“I’ve even had teachers approached at stop signs,” Reed said. “The barricades are worth any traffic inconvenience they bring.”

While the barricades are up, vehicles will be able to enter the area only at the corner of Sepulveda Boulevard and Rayen Street except for the 40 school buses that pick up children at the Langdon Avenue Elementary School, which will be permitted to enter through other intersections monitored by police.

Marvin Jackson, who manages an apartment building on Orion Avenue, also supported the barricades. He said he was shot in the abdomen Christmas Eve as he attempted to settle an argument between tenants he suspected were involved in drug dealing.

“The barricades will be a big help to us because the dealers will move elsewhere,” Jackson said. “It’s selfish and it’s sad, but let someone else, somewhere else worry about the problem for a change.”