PACOIMA : Tenants to Join Fight Against Drugs, Gangs
Tenant patrols will soon join forces with law enforcement and social service agencies in an effort to halt drug and gang activity at the 2,000-resident San Fernando Gardens Housing Development in Pacoima.
The federally subsidized housing project is one of two in the county that will form resident patrols in the fall under an anti-drug program sponsored by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. The program also calls for added patrols by Housing Authority police officers and the fencing off of streets in the development, forcing all cars to pass through a guard at a main entrance.
“A fence and law enforcement alone will not do the trick,” said Marshall Kandell, a spokesman for the Housing Authority. “Unless the community itself gets involved in the process, it doesn’t stand a good chance of success.”
Under the program, Housing Authority police officers will increase their patrols of the housing project, with some assigned exclusively to certain developments. As officers get to know the residents, they can refer tenants who need help to community agencies that specialize in the prevention and treatment of drug abuse, Kandell said.
Edgar Obando, a member of the San Fernando Gardens residents advisory council, said residents will especially welcome the extra patrols.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” said Obando, an 11-year resident. “We urgently need this.”
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