Multitude of Reasons for Calm in L.A. Area : Thoughtful planning and chief’s remarks inspire confidence

Sometime this weekend a jury is expected to begin deliberating the fate of four police officers accused of violating the civil rights of Rodney G. King. Debates rage over whether there will be new unrest. Yet there are plenty of reasons to remain calm.

Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams is among the best of those reasons. The new chief inspires confidence. He himself is confident. He is reassuring. He is prepared.

As soon as the jury starts its job, most of the Police Department, about 6,500 uniformed officers, will go on street duty. Also, Gov. Pete Wilson has announced that 600 National Guard troops will report Monday to L.A.-area armories. The Sheriff’s Department and neighboring law enforcement agencies also are prepared.

“Take it easy, we’re here, we’re not going to fail you this time,” the chief said at a recent press conference. The message should be taken to heart.

The task of the police will be eased by the postponement of another controversial trial that could have added to the tension. The state trial of three men accused of beating Reginald O. Denny in last year’s riots had been scheduled to start Monday, so the decision to postpone was fortunate.

While the police work one side of the streets, community leaders and volunteers work the other. Hundreds of participants in Mayor Tom Bradley’s Neighbor-to-Neighbor program go door-to-door. They provide facts where there was only rumor; they also act as a sounding board for those who want to talk about their worries and frustrations.

Volunteers from area churches and other groups preach peace, too. Perhaps their determination and optimism will become contagious much as the volunteer spirit did in the cleanup of the city after the riots. The Neighbor-to-Neighbor program and the various rumor hot lines are reasonable precautions for a tense city to take. There is a thin line, however, between precaution and panic.

That boundary was crossed recently in the San Fernando Valley when a wary caller reported “suspicious activity” to the newly formed Information and Rumor Control Center in the office of Councilwoman Joy Picus. The “suspicious” activity? A van with several black men pulled into the parking lot of a discount store in Van Nuys. A police officer sent to investigate discovered the men were part of a church group picking up food to distribute to needy families. The caller “might have been a little embarrassed” by her erroneous racial assumptions, one police officer said later. Let’s hope so.

As insulting as that overreaction was to the law-abiding churchmen, at least no one was physically hurt; an overreaction by any of the legions of new gun owners could indeed result in deadly harm to the innocent.

Gun shop operators--perhaps self-servingly--report running out of ammunition because of heavy buying. Guns and bullets belong only in the hands of police officers. The odds are that personal handguns will be used not against crooks but will become stolen weapons used by crooks. Worse, firearms in the home too often wind up killing a loved one.

No rational person wants a repeat of last year’s riots, no matter what the verdicts are or when the decisions are returned. That’s why as the jury debates, Los Angeles should debate too. Instead of asking merely, “Will there be more riots?” we should ask the more fundamental questions: “Why is this city divided? What can we do about it? How can we make things better?”