HUNTINGTON PARK : Policing Increased in Business District

The Police Department has established a two-officer foot patrol in the city’s central business district, hoping that the presence will deter loitering and other crimes.

Officers are patrolling Pacific Boulevard and adjacent streets between Florence and Slauson avenues from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on four undisclosed days a week, according to department officials.

The patrols are an attempt to deter crimes that merchants have long complained about, such as loitering, car theft and the sale of illegal IDs, and to assure shoppers that the business district is safe, Police Chief Frank Sullivan said.

The officers “will develop personal contact with store owners and shoppers and provide some degree of security,” Sullivan said. “We will do what we have to do to make this a safer boulevard. Panhandlers are a major concern. No one wants to come to a store where there are vagrants.”

The patrols will coordinate their efforts with four motorcycle units assigned in December to crack down on the illegal ID trade in the central business district. So far, the effort has yielded more than 70,000 false documents, Sullivan said.

Three parking officers also are on the boulevard daily, police said.

Sullivan announced the new patrols, which began Feb. 12, at a recent meeting of the Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors. Chamber members said they were pleased but hope the number of officers and patrol days will be expanded.

“If you have a situation where you need immediate care, it’s not going to be enough,” said Rudy S. Griego, president of Americo International Immigration Inc. on Rugby Ave. “One of the biggest problems (with the Police Department) is that when something happens, it takes a long time to get assistance because they are (stretched) very thin.”

But anything they can do to help the boulevard and the surrounding streets will be appreciated, Griego said.

Sgt. Thomas Weselis, who oversees the foot patrols, said he expects word of them to spread quickly through the area.

The Police Department is allotting $180,000 annually for the foot patrol program, which Sullivan said will continue indefinitely. He said that he would like to provide officers with bicycles, but there is no money for them.