Citizen ‘Eyes, Ears’ Ready to Aid Police : King case: Merchants, homeowners will be stationed on rooftops if violence breaks out after verdicts. Ventura Boulevard is rumored to be a potential target.

Merchants and homeowners will be stationed on rooftops to spot lawbreakers if violence breaks out in the San Fernando Valley as a result of the upcoming verdicts in the Rodney King beating trial.

Using binoculars and cellular telephones, the unarmed volunteers will perch on roofs of businesses along an affluent 10-mile strip of Ventura Boulevard, directing officers to spots where vandalism, arson or other crimes may be occurring. They also will help weed out false alarms.

“They’ll be our eyes and ears, and we’ll be the muscle,” said Officer Al Longobardi of the West Valley Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. “We can’t be everywhere. We need all the help we can get.”

A coalition of business and homeowner groups in Encino, Tarzana and Sherman Oaks met Sunday with police at the Van Nuys station to organize the surveillance program after hearing rumors that gangs plan to target Ventura Boulevard if the four police officers accused of violating King’s civil rights are acquitted by a federal jury.

The effort is being organized by citizen groups who said they had heard that Ventura Boulevard would be a target. Police said their field officers have picked up similar information from informants, but they stressed that street tips are often unreliable.

About 100 volunteers are needed to take up a yet-to-be-determined number of stations between Corbin and Coldwater Canyon avenues, said Steve Getzoff, an Encino accountant coordinating the program.

“We’re going to take our city back from the bums,” said an unidentified businessman, one of 29 people attending the meeting.

The program is a sign of the growing anxiety accompanying the second trial of the officers. Last spring, South Los Angeles and other parts of the city were hit hard by looting, arson and other crimes after a state jury found the officers not guilty of most of the charges against them. About 63 buildings were set on fire or vandalized in the San Fernando Valley, compared to hundreds elsewhere.

The surveillance effort is also the most recent indication that residents are becoming increasingly involved in fighting crime at a time when authorities complain that there are not enough police officers to cover the city.

As in other surveillance programs involving residents, the volunteers must sign waivers relieving the city of liability should they be injured. They will be covered by the city’s insurance, but only if they follow Police Department policies against confronting suspects.