Understanding the Riots--Six Months Later : A New Blue Line / REMAKING THE LAPD : BOB GROSS

Bob Gross, a Woodland Hills neighborhood activist, has little patience for residents who complain that Los Angeles police officers share part of the blame for rising crime rates and violence.

As far as Gross is concerned, officers are doing a fine job but need additional help and better equipment.

“They are good people, some very dedicated people, but they are terribly understaffed,” said Gross, a purchasing agent for an aerospace firm and president of the local homeowner association.

In the West San Fernando Valley, crime is creeping onto the tree-lined suburban neighborhoods, along with gang violence. Robberies and other serious crimes are on the rise--and police emergency response times have increased, Gross said. But instead of blaming the LAPD he blames the politicians who run city government.

Even during the riots, the much-maligned response by the LAPD can be traced directly back to understaffing and other problems created or condoned by city leaders, Gross said.

“I don’t think that any agency could have adequately responded to what happened last April given the circumstances, how fast it happened,” Gross said. “They did a good job under the circumstances, so I don’t fault them.”

The Police Department is being used “as a political football in budget debates,” Gross said, adding that he plans to challenge Councilwoman Joy C. Picus in the June, 1993, election, in part to fund more police.

Gross’ group, the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, represents more than 450 households and wants more police. One way to achieve this, Gross said, would be to require developers to pay for more police and fire services.

Now police are stretched so thin that residents are often put on hold when they call 911, Gross said. “We are concerned about our communities being attacked without us getting much help,” he said. “You don’t feel safe walking around at night.”

Meanwhile, Gross said he sees some encouraging signs, including passage of Proposition M, which provides for revamping of the department’s emergency communications system. But he is disappointed by the electorate’s narrow rejection of additional taxes to pay for 1,000 more LAPD officers.

Gross conceded that the department is not without its problems, including some rogue officers. But he also said he is confident that the LAPD and new Chief Willie L. Williams will act quickly to correct problems. “We now have a chief who is beholden to no one,” Gross said. “What we need to do now is stand behind him and give him the tools that he needs.”