Scientologists Lead Way in Crime Fight : Gangs: Neighbors have joined members of the Church of Scientology in an East Hollywood crime watch group and anti-graffiti brigade.

Church of Scientology members and their neighbors in East Hollywood have decided to take on violent gangs that they say are terrorizing their neighborhood, after the shooting of a church member and his young son.

Several months ago, church members began expressing concerns about the gangs they said had recently moved into the area, and there was talk about forming a Neighborhood Watch group as other communities have done.

But talk turned to action when, on the night of May 18, the church member and his 5-year-old son were shot after the man chastised some youths for painting gang-related graffiti on a wall at the corner of Edgemont Street and Fountain Avenue, about a block from church property.

Church members mobilized immediately after the confrontation, in which the father was shot in the shoulder and the son was wounded in the hip.

Although the nondenominational church has made headlines for its activities around the world, its members normally like to keep a low profile. But members began passing out 5,000 flyers to area residents asking them to meet and plan for the defense of their community--a mix of noisy commercial boulevards and quiet residential streets--and they began lobbying for a greater police presence in the area.

As many as 200 church members and neighborhood residents showed up at the first meeting, held three weeks ago in the church’s auditorium on Berendo Street, and there have been weekly meetings since.

The East Hollywood People Against Crime was formed as a police-sponsored crime watch group that has taken to the streets to paint over gang-related graffiti. It plans to patrol the area and organize other anti-gang efforts.

The group has chosen about 12 captains to organize residents block by block, and has begun graffiti eradication measures. The first “paint-out” in early June drew more than 150 people, who covered up graffiti over a 28-block area, and more than 100 area residents attended a cookout and organizational meeting last Sunday, according to a Scientology spokeswoman.

Officer Richard Ledesma of LAPD’s Northeast Division said the crime watch group is already making its mark by cleaning up graffiti-ridden alleyways and by urging neighbors to report suspicious activities to police.

“They have a big problem in that area--an increase in crime, gang activity and graffiti,” Ledesma said. “But they have been very successful; some community members have called us and said they haven’t seen anything like it. Things have . . . changed for the better, but there is still violence going on.”

Ledesma and other police said crime has been a problem in the area for years but confirmed that there has been a sharp increase in gang-related crime in the last six months.

The watch group includes representatives of the church and neighbors who are not affiliated with it, Ledesma said. “But there is no doubt that the church was instrumental in leading the drive,” he said.

Shirley Young, president of the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles, said that the church had been concerned about the gangs and violence for some time but that the shootings had been the catalyst that quickly galvanized members and neighbors alike.

The wounded church member, who was treated at a nearby hospital and quickly released, asked that his name not be used for fear of gang retaliation. His son was hospitalized for more than two weeks and must undergo another operation before regaining full use of his legs.

The group this week will begin patrolling a 28-square block area surrounded by Sunset Boulevard on the north, Santa Monica Boulevard on the south, Kingsley Drive on the west and Lyman Place on the east, Young said.

Councilman Michael Woo’s office has donated paint for the graffiti paint-outs, and the church will continue to allow the crime watch group to use its facilities for meetings.

Some church members and residents were apprehensive about taking to the streets in an area that police confirm is frequented by gun-wielding gang members, Young said.

“Knowing these individuals are on drugs and they have guns with them, there is a definite sense of fear or danger,” Young said. “But people are fed up with the situation, and we are going to claim back our neighborhood.”

Church member Dee Dee Carey, who is coordinating the block captains, added: “It’s gotten to the point where they are already here--right in front of our noses, with bullets flying and drive-by shootings.”

“I thought it was fairly safe here,” said Gary Crest, a church member who has signed up as a block captain. “But there was a shooting in front of my house a couple of months ago. . . . “

“My wife and I run a day-care center, and there are a lot of kids around,” Crest said. He said he wants to help clean up the neighborhood so his family and business will be safe.

Another resident who has signed up as one of the block captains, is 69-year-old Esther Farmer, a semi-retired apartment building manager who lives in the 4800 block of Lexington Avenue.

Farmer, who said she is not a member of the church, said she signed up immediately after being approached by Scientologists. Block captains try to attract new members and help patrol the area.

“We have it real bad,” she said. “It’s infested with (gang members) here. There are so many popping up here it is not funny.”