HUD Asks Refund on Patrols : Law enforcement: The federal agency’s audit claims that $4.3 million was ‘unnecessarily’ paid for special protection at housing projects, including Lomita’s Harbor Hills.

Federal auditors say local police “unnecessarily” charged Los Angeles County more than $4.3 million for special protection that was never provided to three low-cost housing projects--among them, the Harbor Hills project in Lomita.

For more than five years, the county housing authority--which is funded by the federal government--needlessly paid for “basic law enforcement service, which it should have gotten at no cost,” according to a recent audit by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Now HUD has recommended that the Sheriff’s Department reimburse the county $2.9 million it charged for special protection at the 299-unit Harbor Hills project, at the corner of Western Avenue and Palos Verdes Drive North, and the Nueva Maravilla Housing Project in East Los Angeles.

The federal agency also wants Long Beach police to pay back $1.4 million they charged for special protection at the Carmelitos Housing Project in North Long Beach.

The county sought the special protection to improve safety in Harbor Hills and the other two government-run projects, which collectively house thousands of poor families and senior citizens. But the law enforcement services both agencies provided “did not appear to be above and beyond normal services” and should have been free, according to the Sept. 19 audit recently released by HUD.

County, police and sheriff’s officials disagree, arguing that the three housing projects received far more patrol car service than the average neighborhood--at least five hours daily, for instance, in Harbor Hills and nine hours at Carmelitos. The three projects also were provided with foot patrols, undercover officers and police presentations at community meetings.

At Harbor Hills, residents said Thursday they frequently see patrols by the Sheriff’s Department in addition to the private security patrols also provided for the project.

“I’ve been here 11 years and haven’t had anything bad happen because the police come frequently,” said Justina Leal, a grandmother, speaking in Spanish. “You see them passing through here all the time.”

John Navone, a 17-year Harbor Hills resident, said sheriff’s patrol cars cruise through the parking lot near his building two to three times a day. But the police presence, even coupled with the private security, is no panacea, he said.

“The other night my car got tagged (with graffiti),” Navone said. “How can you protect against that? There are 300 units here, and the Sheriff’s Department has the rest of Lomita and the (Palos Verdes) Peninsula to worry about. That’s a lot of ground to cover.”

Lomita and sheriff’s officials say that although Harbor Hills is by no means beset by crime, extra policing is needed there to handle occasional problems ranging from graffiti tagging to fighting to drug dealing.

And nearby homeowners want the policing, they say, to ensure criminal activity doesn’t spill into their neighborhoods.

“It’s not real busy here, but sometimes it can be,” said Steve Schauer, a deputy seen in his patrol car Thursday outside the Harbor Hills project. “We do patrol this housing project as much as possible.”

County officials say they are satisfied with the service.

“We feel we’re getting what we pay for,” said Donald Smith, assistant executive director of the county Community Development Commission, which serves as the county housing authority and is funded by HUD. “The quality of life is fairly well maintained at Harbor Hills. And with the homeowners associations that surround it, our relationships are pretty good.”

Backed by Long Beach police and sheriff’s representatives, county officials are appealing the audit, which reviewed law enforcement service provided between Oct. 1, 1985, and March 31, 1991.

“We have taken a very strong position against that opinion,” said Carlos Jackson, executive director of the Community Development Commission.

Jackson questioned the methodology involved in the audit and said that HUD talked to the wrong officials at the police and sheriff’s departments. “They didn’t talk with people who are familiar with the contract,” Jackson said.

In a Dec. 22 response to HUD, Jackson wrote that both law enforcement agencies provide more than basic service. Long Beach police, for example, gave Carmelitos residents more than twice as many patrol hours per day than were given to residents in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Last month, the East Los Angeles sheriff’s station reported providing the Nueva Maravilla Housing Project with about 40% more patrol time than its contract required. “For that small little square to get that type of police service is not usual,” Sheriff’s Lt. Robert Hoffman said.

Capt. William Mangan, chief of the sheriff’s Lomita station, said his department also provides more patrol time for Harbor Hills than the average five hours a day called for in its $150,000-a-year contract with the county.

Mangan, however, said he could not immediately quantify the extra service. “I just know we’re giving them their contract time and then some,” he said.

HUD auditors noted that representatives from both law enforcement agencies were in and out of the projects and failed to continuously patrol them. But Hoffman said it would be foolish to patrol the projects continuously because everyone would know when the law officers would be there.

Jackson estimated that the two law enforcement agencies saved the county $2.5 million since 1985. Before that, the projects were patrolled by the county’s own, more costly, police force.

“I don’t understand how they concluded that (the services are standard.) Where I live, I can guarantee you I don’t get nine hours of a policeman,” Hoffman said. “And I know we’re exceeding the nine hours.”