Trying to Keep a Lid on the Rumor Mill : Fears: With the King case about to go to the jury, a group uses a Reseda-based telephone hot line to separate fact from fiction.

The caller had a suspicious activity to report and hoped the police would get right on it. Two vans, each filled with “six to eight black men,” had just entered the parking lot of the Smart & Final discount store in Van Nuys, she said, and the whole thing just seemed “off.”

So a police car was duly dispatched from the newly formed Information and Rumor Control Center in Councilwoman Joy Picus’ office. Within minutes, the mystery was cleared up: The men were with a church group picking up food from the discount chain for distribution to the poor.

And so it went Tuesday as one factless fear after another was dismissed by a team of one police officer and several volunteers. In some instances, like the men who turned out to be church workers, the rumor busters even managed to dispel racial stereotypes.

“She might have been a little embarrassed in the end,” Los Angeles Police Officer Russ Long said of the van tipster.

The “center”--really a conference table with six phone lines in Picus’ Reseda field office--began operating Monday and will run as long as necessary in an effort to calm residents worried that the verdicts in the Rodney G. King beating trial will spark more violence. It was organized by Picus’ staff and officers from the Police Department’s West Valley Division after they jointly agreed the public’s fear seemed to be growing out of control.

By calmly answering questions, by getting to the heart of the matter like the men in the vans, those at rumor control on Tuesday tried to quash unsubstantiated stories and chip away at mounting panic as the federal trial of the four police officers involved in the King beating draws to a close.

Calls have been steadily increasing since the phones opened, with those on Tuesday far outpacing the dozen or so questions received Monday.

But most questions Tuesday were variations on the same themes: Will the Valley be targeted for looting and burning by inner-city gangs? Have criminals stolen uniforms and patrol cars as part of a plot to impersonate officers? And when are the verdicts going to come in anyway?

“Everybody wants to know when the verdicts are coming in and we don’t know, nobody knows,” said volunteer Jean Jauck, a calm woman who answered each call with a crisp, “Rumor Control Center!”

“The jury has not even gone out yet,” Jauck, a retired nurse, told one caller in measured tones, her experience working for a psychiatrist coming in handy.

“Yes, the National Guard has been alerted,” Picus’ chief field deputy, Karyn Palmer, said slowly. “Well, there’s a process through which the National Guard is called,” she continued. “Yes, it’s been set up so it can go expeditiously. . . .”

As for the other recurring queries, police say they consider gang members too unorganized to plan a Valley-bound convoy or mass impersonations of law enforcement officers.

“Many of the rumors are bordering on the absurd,” said Long, a community relations officer.

One caller said he’d heard guns were coming all the way from New Jersey, while a Valencia woman wanted to know if the Santa Clarita Valley would be targeted for violence since it is home to three of the four officers accused of violating King’s civil rights.

Another caller asked if it was safe to attend an event at the Sports Arena, or if he should give up his tickets.

Still another caller, employed by an aerospace company, wondered if disgruntled, laid-off workers might retaliate using riots as a cover.

Several people have called from out of state to check on the safety of relatives, while a San Diego woman wanted to know if it was all right to drive to L.A. for a business meeting this week.

Other callers Tuesday seemed confused by a news conference held by Police Chief Willie L. Williams and Mayor Tom Bradley to outline the city’s riot preparedness. Had the verdicts come in already, asked two or three callers who apparently tuned in to the middle of the news conference to catch Williams and Bradley side by side.

And speaking of Bradley, another caller wanted to know if it was true that the mayor plans to leave town if riots break out.

Another asked if the municipal election would be postponed, prompting Picus herself--a candidate for reelection--to announce that no such plans had been made.

The Information and Rumor Control Center will reopen today and can be reached at (818) 345-1091.

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