Residents Argue for Storefront Policing : Community: Mini-station would be run largely with volunteers and donations, proponents say. Critics point to the fact that an officer would be on hand only part time.

A group of Long Beach residents and their city councilman have proposed an unusual experiment in community policing: a storefront police station run mostly by volunteers and funded through donations.

The proposed mini-station at 7th Street and Rose Avenue is billed as a place where people could go to voice their complaints, seek assistance and feel they have a role in improving their neighborhood.

The community police center, which awaits final approval, is the brainchild of recently elected Councilman Alan Lowenthal. More than 100 people have volunteered to staff the office, record complaints for the Police Department, develop public safety programs, coordinate neighborhood watch programs and raise funds for the facility.

The mini-station idea, unveiled last week, has been endorsed by numerous neighborhood associations and the Police Department.

Volunteers say they see the mini-station as a way residents and police can work together more effectively to fight crime.

“My husband and I got involved because we want to keep the neighborhood, said Lucy Johnson, a resident of the Rose Park neighborhood. “We want our neighbors to stay rather than run away. This is a city with great potential.”

Others, however, question the effectiveness of a storefront facility that has no holding cells, locker rooms or training areas, and would be staffed by only one police officer part-time.

“Storefronts are the next thing to a waste of time,” said Councilman Les Robbins, a sheriff’s deputy.

Councilman Jeff Kellogg agreed, calling storefront stations “nothing more than a public relations operation.” Kellogg was the only council member who voted last month against allocating seed money to create two such mini-stations as pilot projects.

Councilman Doug Drummond, who retired from the Long Beach Police Department after 29 years, said he too prefers full substations but supports the mini-station concept.

“Will it work? I’m not sure, but it’s a great idea,” Drummond said.

Lowenthal argued that the storefront would be more than a police mini-station. It would serve as a focal point for the neighborhood, improve relations between residents and police, and help people feel they are taking control of their surroundings.

“You don’t just attack crime. You have to help people overcome a sense of isolation by building a sense of community,” Lowenthal said.

Police Chief William C. Ellis said he supports the concept but will withhold judgment until he sees how it works. “We’ll give it a try for a period of time and evaluate it as we go along,” he said.

The Police Department now operates largely out of its main headquarters downtown. Its only substation was set up years ago in Scherer Park in North Long Beach. That station is being expanded.

The department has a storefront facility at El Dorado Park and plans to open another at the Long Beach Plaza. But those are staffed by civilian employees rather than volunteers.

The mini-station at 7th and Rose would be run by volunteers with the aid of Officer Edward Vogel, who returned to the force two years ago from retirement. Vogel will help train the volunteers and assist the public during his 20 hours per week at the center.

Although no beat officers are scheduled to work out of the community police center, Ellis said, officers in the area are likely to use it for writing reports and making calls.

Lowenthal is also asking the city to provide an interpreter 15 hours a week. The mini-station is tentatively scheduled to be open from 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

Lowenthal is asking the city for $15,000 to pay for rent, utilities, supplies and equipment for one year. After that, volunteer groups would raise the money.

A committee of the city’s Community Development Department is scheduled to make a final decision on the mini-station later this month. Lowenthal said he hopes to have the center operating by the first of next month.

The committee can choose up to two sites for mini-stations in six neighborhoods that are part of a Neighborhood Improvement Program, said Michael K. Parker, the city’s Neighborhood Services Bureau manager. So far, however, the only proposal has come from the neighborhood around 7th Street and Rose Avenue. The other neighborhoods are South Wrigley and areas around Washington Middle School, Starr King School, Whittier School and Drake Park.

Residents in the 7th Street-Rose Avenue area cited the increase in crime since the mid-1980s and the effect of the civil disturbance that rocked Long Beach, Los Angeles and other areas last April as reasons the mini-station is needed.

“I stood on the roof and watched the riots,” said Michelle Harris, a spokeswoman for the United South of 7th Neighborhood Assn. She helped organize phone banks and meetings seeking volunteers for the mini-station.

The proposal is patterned loosely on a program that began in Philadelphia in 1987. It began as one storefront facility and has mushroomed into 31 mini-stations, said Philadelphia Police Officer Tom M. Bray. In Philadelphia, however, the mini-stations are staffed with police officers as well as volunteers, Bray said. “If it’s going to work, you have to have police officers there,” Bray said.

Bray said he and a partner walk the neighborhood while volunteers staff the office. By walking the beat regularly, Bray said he’s gotten to know the neighborhood and its residents, many of whom now tip him off to criminal activity in the area.

Lowenthal said he hopes that once the station is open, residents will feel more comfortable reporting crimes and working with landlords and police to rid the area of drug-dealing and other problems.