LOCAL ELECTIONS / BALLOT MEASURES : Gang Suit Loss Hinders Police Tax Campaign in Hawthorne : Law Enforcement: The timing of last week’s $1.95-million settlement in police brutality suit hurts bid to pass measure to pay for more police, supporters say.

The campaign for a Hawthorne ballot measure that would raise property taxes to pay for additional police officers appears to have suffered a setback since the city decided last week to settle a police brutality lawsuit for $1.95 million, supporters of the measure say.

In the lawsuit, members of the Vagos motorcycle club and others alleged that police had violated their rights by harassing them in the early 1980s during a series of raids on their homes. Police said they were searching for a club member suspected of stabbing three men in a bar fight.

“The Vagos case has been brought up,” said Shelley Effler, treasurer of Citizens Against Crime, which is campaigning in support of the June 5 ballot measure. “Not everyone is in love with the police, for whatever reasons. And we have heard people say, ‘The police aren’t being used efficiently now, so why should I pay for more?’ The timing (for the settlement) could not have been worse.”

Nevertheless, police officials and supporters of Proposition D say they are confident that Hawthorne residents are ready to do something about the city’s crime rate, which rose nearly 20% from 1988 to 1989. Police Chief Stephen Port notes that Hawthorne has the lowest number of police officers per capita of any South Bay city and argues that more officers are the city’s only chance to bring the crime rate down.

Effler said supporters of the measure should be able to offset any negative reactions to the settlement before the election.

“If we voted tomorrow, I’d be holding my breath,” Effler said. “I think we’re close right now, but we still have work to do in the next 10 days.”

The measure needs the approval of two-thirds of the city’s voters in order to pass. The proposal would raise property taxes by $55 a year for homeowners and $70 a year per apartment unit. Businesses would pay $5.50 per foot of frontage, with a cap of $5,000.

It is expected that the tax increase would raise $2.9 million a year to hire and retain 35 more police officers. Of those, 22 would be slated for patrol, five for gang intervention and narcotics enforcement, three for special crime problems and the remaining five for supervision, Port said.

Apartment owners--who are likely to pass the increase on to renters--would be assessed more than homeowners because apartments put “more of a drain on police resources than single-family houses,” said City Manager Kenneth Jue. “There tends to be a lot more family squabbles and what not when people live closer together.”

Among those endorsing Proposition D are the Hawthorne City Council, the Hawthorne Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, state Assemblyman Richard Floyd (D-Gardena) and state Sen. Ralph C. Dills (D-Gardena).

A fund-raiser at the Cockatoo Inn last week drew more than 200 people and netted more than $5,000 to pay for 500 yard signs, two billboards and several banners posted around the city, Port said. In addition, dozens of residents have volunteered to walk precincts and to staff phone banks to inform voters of the measure, he said.

Port acknowledged that the city’s decision to settle the Vagos lawsuit “had an effect on city government and people’s perception of the Police Department,” but he said most of the community supports the department.

Although a few apartment owners have voiced disappointment that they would be assessed more than homeowners, the majority of the city’s landlords--many of whom have had trouble renting apartments because of crime--are supporting it, said Bob Marsella, president of the Hawthorne Chamber of Commerce.

Hawthorne last year logged the largest number of serious crimes per capita of any city in the South Bay, according to statistics compiled by Port.

In the first three months of this year, serious crime in Hawthorne was up 16% over the same period in 1989, figures released last month show. Assaults rose from 130 to 197, an increase of 52%. Robberies were up from 131 to 187, a 43% rise, while rapes increased from 10 to 14, or 40%. The only crime that decreased was burglary, down 10% from 354 to 319.

One reason the city’s crime rate has risen, Port said, is that in the last 10 years the city’s population has grown from 56,000 to 70,000, while the Police Department has added only six officers for a total of 90.

Supporters of the measure say there is strong support for the police tax on the city’s affluent west side and on the poorer, crime-ridden east side. However, Effler said, there is some resistance from precincts in the city center, which is more racially and economically mixed.

“We have had people going around with precinct sheets and some of them have come back with 415 votes for yes and no one (saying they would vote) no,” Effler said. “But then in certain areas there seems to be about 30% undecided.”

Support for the measure also seems to split along ethnic lines, Effler said. Precinct walkers report that blacks and Latinos strongly favor the measure, while Asians tend to oppose it. More Anglos are undecided than voters in other groups, she said.

Proposition D is the city’s second attempt in two years to raise taxes to pay for additional police.

In November, 1988, more than 60% of the voters rejected a measure that would have boosted utility taxes to 6% from 3.5% in order to raise $2 million for more police.

“My feeling is there wasn’t enough time to discuss the issues with the public and what would be an acceptable means to tax for more police services,” Port said. “Once it was defined, there was not enough community education to get the voters to understand what the problems were for the community.”

To ward off a similar disaster this time, Port began last fall studying how other cities, including neighboring Inglewood, were able to pass assessments for more police. Noting that Inglewood courted voters to find out what kind of tax assessment would be acceptable, Port held five public hearings in Hawthorne this year.

“At the end of those hearings, we had a consensus that, yes, a tax measure would be acceptable but that a measure that benefited the police only was the only kind of tax the public would support,” Port said.