THE TIMES POLL : Most Rank Police High in L.A. and Orange Counties

Crime maintains a nagging presence in Los Angeles and Orange counties, but nevertheless most residents approve of the crime-fighting job that authorities are doing, the Los Angeles Times Poll has found.

But a poll of 1,901 respondents in both counties found a continuing gulf separating the attitudes of Anglos and black residents toward police officers and sheriff’s deputies.

Almost half of the blacks questioned said there was at least “a fair amount” of police brutality in the Southern California area, a rate more than twice that of Anglos.

More than a third of the blacks questioned said they or a family member had been intimidated or harassed by law enforcement officers--a percentage three times that expressed by Anglos.

The poll followed a month of turmoil and violent encounters between black members of the Nation of Islam and the local law enforcement community. Two separate incidents between law enforcement officers and Muslims escalated into violence, and in one a 27-year-old Muslim was shot and killed.

Even before the death of Oliver Beasley on Jan. 23, members of the black community have long said that they are the subject of unwarranted stops and harassment by law enforcement officials. For years, too, Anglos have had more favorable impressions of law enforcement agencies than have blacks or Latinos.

“There is a sense of powerlessness and a sense of frustration that minorities feel,” said I.A. Lewis, director of the Times Poll. “There is a deep-seated distrust of the whole Establishment,” which police represent, he added.

The poll, taken between Feb. 3 and Feb. 7, demonstrated dramatically the inroads that urban crime continues to make on the peace of mind of Southern Californians. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Two-thirds said that crime is a more serious problem now than it was a decade ago, while only 6% suggested that it was less pressing. When that same question was asked of poll respondents just two years ago, a comparatively smaller 56% said crime was worse.

Half of those living in the city of Los Angeles said they do not feel safe while walking in their neighborhoods at night, and one out of every seven said they feel unsafe while alone in their homes.

Generally, those living in the city of Los Angeles expressed more fear of crime, while those living in the county were less afraid and Orange County residents had the most positive impression of their safety.

Similarly, Anglos were more likely to feel safe, while Latinos and blacks were increasingly more frightened of crime.

While 49% of Los Angeles city residents said they felt unsafe walking at night, for example, only 21% of Orange County residents made the same claim. While 64% of Anglos said they felt safe walking at night, only 36% of blacks agreed. Among Latinos, the figure was 56%.

Overall, there has been little appreciable difference in the perceived safety of neighborhoods and homes in the past several years. Times polls dating from 1979 to the present have typically showed similar numbers.

In the most recent poll, 27% of the respondents said they or a member of their immediate family had been a victim of crime--mostly burglaries and auto thefts. Again, Los Angeles County was markedly less safe than its southern neighbor. Only 20% of Orange County respondents said they had been victimized, compared to 27% in the city of Los Angeles and 30% in the surrounding county territory.

Overall, less than a third said they had “a lot of confidence” that police would protect them from crime--a figure that dropped to 12% among blacks. The bulk of the respondents--55%--said they had “some confidence” that they have protection. But fully one in every five blacks said they had “no confidence” that police will provide them protection from crime.

But the ratings given to law enforcement agencies battling the wave of crime have yet to reflect discontent. According to the Times Poll, Southern Californians overall gave at least a “fair” rating to police and sheriff’s agencies.

“People don’t necessarily blame cops for crime,” said Lewis. “More often than not, they blame the courts for crime and the prisons for crime. . . . Police are by and large a personification of a guardian.”

In the city of Los Angeles, where fears of crime were the highest, 68% said they approved of the job done by the LAPD. County residents under the jurisdiction of other police departments approved by a statistically identical 66%, and Orange County residents summoned 78% favorable support for their police agencies.

The sheriff’s departments in each county were slightly less favorably regarded, not because of any significant opposition but because more respondents were undecided. Of Los Angeles County residents, 62% approved of the Sheriff’s Department; Orange County residents voiced a 69% approval rating.

For the LAPD, the approval ratings marked a slight change from the last time the question was asked by the Times Poll, in March, 1988, when 74% of city residents gave the department good marks. It was a statistical increase, however, over earlier polls. In April, 1979, after LAPD officers shot to death an unarmed city resident named Eulia Love, the Times Poll found that the department’s approval rating had slumped to 43%.

But for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the poll represented a boost from the last Times Poll a year ago, when only 46% said their impression of the department was favorable. And the increase comes despite months of publicity about an alleged money-skimming scandal at the department, which has suspended 18 narcotics officers suspected of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in seized drug money.

Again, there were strong differences between the perceptions of Anglos and members of minority communities.

While 72% of Anglos approved of the job done by local police departments, only 45% of blacks agreed. While 65% of Anglos gave favorable grades to the sheriffs’ departments, only 46% of the blacks agreed. In each case, the opinions of Latino respondents ranked in between those of blacks and Anglos.

Asked if relations between the community and police departments had grown better or worse in the last decade, respondents overall were split on the matter. But in the black community, 42% said they were worse--almost three times the rate of Anglos.

The Times Poll also questioned its respondents about particular aspects of police work and the criticism leveled at law enforcement officers. Again, the overall conclusions were favorable toward authorities and in most cases represented slight improvements over past polls. But there, again, were vast differences between ethnic groups.

Orange County residents and whites were more likely to say that police and sheriff’s deputies were doing a good job holding down crime, exercising good judgment, answering calls and treating citizens well.

Asked whether law enforcement officials operating in their neighborhoods exercised good judgment, for example, 80% of Anglos answered affirmatively. Only half of the black respondents agreed, and 67% of Latinos offered a favorable impression of officers.

Similarly, 82% of Anglos said officers did a good job of holding down crime, while only 60% of blacks shared that impression.

There was more agreement on questions about how different ethnic groups are treated by law enforcement agencies. A quarter of the respondents felt that police officers and sheriff’s deputies are tougher on youths and on blacks than they are on adults and Anglos. Almost two out of five said officers were tougher on Latinos than on Anglos.

“There’s a broad feeling that police discriminate,” said Lewis.

Demands for more officers to fight crime escalated, predictably, in areas where there was more concern about becoming a victim. Asked whether there were enough law enforcement officers on the streets, two-thirds of city residents said there were not. Only half of the county respondents and little more than one-third of Orange County residents said there were not enough in their neighborhoods, however.

More than three-quarters, in addition, said that more officers should be placed in high-crime areas. Only 15% expressed fears that that would leave less crime-prone areas open for trouble.

VIEWS ON POLICE AND CRIME

Compared to 10 years ago, what kind of a crime problem do you have in your neighborhood? More serious: 64% About the same: 25% Less serious: 6% Don’t know: 5% How do you rate your police department? Approve: Blacks: 45 Total: 69 Disapprove: Blacks: 44 Total: 20 Don’t know: Blacks: 11 Total: 11 How do you rate your sheriff’s department? Approve: Blacks: 46 Total: 63 Disapprove: Blacks: 30 Total: 17 Don’t know: Blacks: 24 Total: 20 How much police brutality is there in your neighborhood? None: 43% Hardly any: 8% Not much: 14% A fair amount: 17% A great deal: 5% Don’t Know: 13% Source: Los Angeles Times Poll