LAPD Recruiters Swamped in South L.A. : Police: Despite the King beating, more than 200 people turn out to apply for jobs as officers.

In a South Los Angeles neighborhood scarred by graffiti and burned buildings, the Los Angeles Police Department came searching Saturday for a few recruits--and barely had enough forms to test an overflow crowd of applicants.

At the recruitment meeting, the first in this area in at least three years, many of the more than 200 applicants seemed to hold no grudge against the Police Department for the beating of Rodney G. King.

“I don’t think the LAPD is a racist organization,” said Hughston Dale, 28, an African-American airport security officer who lives in South Los Angeles. “I’d say 95% of them are good officers. I think this (recruitment drive) is a step toward healing the community.”

Police officials said most applicants were lured by the department’s attractive starting salaries, which range from $34,000 to $43,000 annually, with no college education required.

But other African-American applicants said public service was also on their minds. “There’s a lot of things happening in my community,” said Mark Griffin, 31, of Altadena, who was among the applicants who live in other parts of the city. “Right now crime is up and I’d like to make a change.”

The unemployed computer programmer said the videotaped beating of King, and the not guilty verdicts in the trial of four LAPD officers, did not keep him from applying. “I’d like to show the community that not all police officers are like that,” Griffin said.

Timothy Phelps, 22, a South Los Angeles applicant who recently finished a stint in the U.S. Navy, agreed. “It’s not like it was the LAPD itself,” Phelps said. “It was four people employed by them.”

The department, which wants to hire up to 300 officers this year, conducts written tests each week at the Police Academy in Elysian Park and at police stations in North Hollywood and the Mid-Wilshire area.

But at the urging of Councilwoman Rita Walters, the department recruited candidates and administered written tests Saturday at the New Hope Baptist Church in South Los Angeles. The meeting room quickly filled and some applicants were forced to wait outside during part of the program.

“We’re overflowing,” said Theresa Adams Lopez, an LAPD spokeswoman. “We anticipated about 100 people. We’ve got twice that many--at least.”

Sgt. Ron Sullivan, who supervised the program, called the turnout “a pleasant surprise.” But he added: “Since the King incident, anytime we have had recruiting events, we’ve done very well. We haven’t seen any decline in the number of people applying for the department.”

Sullivan cautioned that the written test is only the first step in a lengthy screening process. On average, he said, about 3% of the people who take the written exam become police officers.

Nevertheless, said Councilwoman Walters, the department’s testing in South Los Angeles was overdue. “My concern was that the LAPD was not recruiting in this part of the city,” she said. “I told them the 9th Council District had the highest level of unemployment in the city. I told them there were scads of people who might want to apply.”

Walters said she was “pleased to see the (large) number of African-Americans, Latinos and Asians” among the applicants.

During a briefing before the written tests, LAPD staff members discussed the department’s vision standards, physical ability tests, medical exams and background checks. “They talk to your neighbors, your spouse, your girlfriends,” said Rhonda Sims-Lewis, the LAPD’s recruitment director. “They want to know how you treat others.”

The applicants learned that the department uses a polygraph only when a controversial issue surfaces in the background check. A good credit rating is required. But a criminal record, including juvenile offenses, does not automatically disqualify a police candidate.

One man provoked laughter when he asked if the department planned to tell his neighbors about his application. “If people know you’re becoming a police officer,” he said, “it may cause problems.”