End of the Line for Beefed-Up Bus Patrols : Crime: Funds run out for extra policing on the No. 204 line. The increased presence of officers had been credited with a marked drop in vandalism and graffiti.

Three months after officials hailed a “dramatic decrease” in crime on the MTA’s most crime-ridden bus line, the extra police patrols credited for the success have been canceled.

The patrols had been assigned to the No. 204 line, which runs along Vermont Avenue between Hollywood Boulevard and Manchester Avenue. For years, the line has been the most graffiti-plagued, crime-ridden route in the four counties served by the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

The patrols, which involved officers boarding buses about every 20 minutes from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., were funded out of $1.4 million in Proposition A funds allocated to County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke’s office. The funds must be spent for transportation-related uses.

In an interview, Burke said she used $1.11 million for the patrols but withheld $290,000 in the event it would be needed for an emergency. “We were faced with a lot of uncertainty in that community,” she said, referring to fears of civil unrest after the verdicts in the federal civil rights trial of Rodney G. King.

The beefed-up bus patrols were originally scheduled to run as a pilot program from Dec. 13 to March 13 but were continued for an additional month because the money was not spent as quickly as officials had expected.

“We kept our commitment, not for 90 days but for 120 days,” said Burke, who added that she would push for additional officers for the line.

The MTA Police Department is preparing a report that is expected to document a decrease in crime on the 204 line while the patrols were in service. Police said they were not sure when the report would be completed. At a Jan. 13 news conference during which Burke and RTD officials were flanked by a row of police officers, the supervisor and others credited the patrols for a “dramatic decrease” in crime on the bus line. Officials said the extra patrols had resulted in an estimated 40% drop in vandalism and graffiti.

They also vowed to seek additional money once the Proposition A funds were spent.

Marv Holen, a former RTD Board president who is now an alternate member of the MTA board, said additional police officers are needed for all high-use bus lines but acknowledged he did not know where the money would come from.

A recent City Times analysis of transit police data found that crime on bus lines in Central Los Angeles increased 350% from 1988 to 1992.

However, far less is spent for security on buses than on the new Metro Red Line subway or the Blue Line light rail. Only 3 cents is spent on security for each bus passenger, compared to $1.25 for each Blue line rider and 29 cents per Red Line passenger based on initial ridership figures, according to Southern California Rapid Transit District data. The RTD merged with the rival Los Angeles County Transportation Commission earlier this year to form the MTA.

Although police say some bus crimes are down, the violence continues.

On April 9, three people were slightly injured when shots were fired on a No. 20 bus at Vermont Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, police said. The gunman shot two passengers in an argument and was wrestled to the floor by other riders, only to be wounded by his own gun when it discharged after he dropped it during the struggle.

As for the No. 204 line, Capt. Dennis Conte of the MTA police said there has not been a noticeable increase in crime since the patrols were canceled. He said an additional patrol car has been cruising the line to help take up the slack.

Passengers and bus drivers had welcomed the patrols, saying they felt safer. Not surprisingly, the news that they had been canceled did not sit well with some waiting for the No. 204 at Vermont and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard last week.

“If (officials) cared about us, they would not take the police away,” said Enrique Berumen, who rides the buses every day. “Because we are poor, they think they can get away with (canceling the patrols).”

Added Deborah Watley: “I wondered what happened to them officers . . . I just hope these young kids don’t find out.”