Gang Shootings Prompt Appeal for Change in Policing

Concerned about a rash of gang-related shootings, Echo Park-area residents sought help last week from City Councilman Mike Hernandez to change a key police patrol boundary and crack down on errant landlords.

Policing Echo Park is now split between the Rampart and Northeast divisions of the Los Angeles Police Department, but neighborhood leaders believe this is inefficient.

Rampart Division, which had the city’s highest homicide rate last year, includes the Echo Park neighborhoods south of Sunset Boulevard.

“We’ve had Rampart officers tell us they are swamped,” said Gil Jaffe, an activist in Angelino Heights, a neighborhood between Echo Park and Dodger Stadium. “So maybe they should move the boundary from Sunset (south) to the Hollywood Freeway.”

William Nettles, an Echo Park Improvement Assn. member who compiles crime figures for his area, said:

“Crime really hasn’t gone up. But it has gotten more dangerous. I think the people in Angelino Heights have come to the realization that we came to over the past couple of years--that you can’t ignore this.”

Nettles agreed that a change in the police patrol boundary would help.

“There’s a real community that’s been divided by a bureaucratic and political device,” he said. “I don’t quite understand why that is. The natural boundary is the Hollywood Freeway.”

The Rampart police station is at Temple Street and Rampart Boulevard, southwest of Echo Park. The Northeast station is on San Fernando Road, just south of the city of Glendale.

About 70 people from Angelino Heights and Echo Park met Feb. 10 with Hernandez, who offered to help. But the councilman cautioned against looking for a quick cure for neighborhood crime problems.

“There isn’t an overnight solution,” said Morrie Goldman, a spokesman for Hernandez.

David Marquez, the councilman’s field deputy for Echo Park and Angelino Heights, acknowledged that a dispute has erupted between two gangs in the area in recent months, leading to an increase in shooting incidents.

“With gang violence, once you have one shooting, you have retaliation. Then it becomes a cycle,” Marquez said. “ We’re in the midst of a cycle like that.”

Hernandez is trying to determine whether his district is getting its fair share of police officers to combat such problems. Earlier this month, he called for a Police Commission study of how and where officers are assigned throughout the city.

But a change in the Rampart and Northeast police area boundaries is unlikely in the near future, city and police officials said.

For one thing, new City Council district boundaries are being redrawn, and policing areas will probably not be changed until the new political jurisdictions are set later this year, city officials said.

Rampart commander Capt. Alan Deal said police officials already have concluded that more stations and patrol areas are needed--including one that might cover the Echo Park and Silver Lake communities. But he said funds are not presently available to make such a change.

During 1991, Rampart led the city with 147 homicides. Deal said patrol cars assigned to the Echo Park area occasionally are called away to help in more crime-ridden neighborhoods. But he denied that Echo Park and Angelino Heights are being shortchanged.

“I would say we still balance the service levels throughout the Rampart area,” the captain said. “The biggest problem is that we don’t have enough officers--period.”

Because of limited police resources, Echo Park activists have sought other ways to keep their neighborhoods safe.

Since last July, homeowners in Echo Park and Angelino Heights have paid for private security patrols. In addition, they have worked with the city attorney’s office and threatened to go to court to put pressure on landlords who allow gang members to live and operate out of their buildings. Community leaders plan to press Hernandez to assist with such legal tactics.

“I think what we’ve got here is momentum,” Nettles said. “If Mike helps us, it will be a lot easier.”