LOCAL : Steel Anti-Drug Barriers Set Up

Using money from apartment owners in a formerly drug-infested Sepulveda neighborhood, authorities today began replacing sawhorse barricades on streets in the 12-block area with permanent steel barriers.

The barriers, which are implanted in the street, replace the barricades that were installed by the city in November to help keep drive-through drug-buyers out of the neighborhood. The barricaded area stretches south along Columbus Avenue from Nordhoff Street, and the barriers leave only one entrance to the neighborhood.

Los Angeles Police Capt. Mark Stevens said drug-dealing in the area has dropped dramatically since the neighborhood was barricaded. He said the police continue to run undercover operations there because customers continue to come to the area to buy drugs.

The four steel barriers, which can be opened for emergency vehicles, cost $6,500 and were paid for by owners of the many apartment buildings in the neighborhood. The city will pay the cost of maintaining them.

City Councilman Joel Wachs said the barriers eventually could be removed if the neighborhood improves to the point that drug-dealing will not return.