RESEDA : Officer’s Hope for Area Youth Springs Eternal

Gang members had their eyes on Tony Newsom when he was growing up at 83rd and Western, less than a mile from the corner where the Los Angeles riots would break out years later.

But Newsom steered clear of gangs, he says, because he had hope for himself and the future. Not to mention a father who was a 250-pound boxer.

Now 33 and a Los Angeles police officer, Newsom can’t provide a hulking father to watch over youths in danger of being lured by gangs. But he can provide hope.

Newsom founded the West Valley version of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Jeopardy program, in which officers attempt to help youngsters in danger of becoming involved in gangs or crime.

And last year, he founded The Positive Results Corp. to produce television programs that would reach youths through “the big baby-sitter.”

“The No. 1 killer of youth in the United States is lack of hope and lack of desire,” said Newsom, who was named Outstanding Young Public Safety Officer by the California Junior Chamber of Commerce last summer. “There’s a lot of kids out there who don’t know they can do anything.”

A single father of two, Newsom is a moving mountain of energy. At the West Valley YMCA recently, he put 10 teen-agers through a strenuous workout, helping as they curled heavy weights and jogged on treadmills.

Randy Brard, 14, said he was referred to the program after being stopped by police for vandalism. “I had eight cans of spray-paint on me,” the Reseda resident said.

Randy said Newsom and partner Mike Piceno took him to “the slammer” to show him what he could look forward to.

“We take them to jail and show them, ‘This is what comes out of jail,’ ” Newsom said.

He keeps a set of street clothes in his car and puts them on, play-acting the part of a gang recruiter to show kids how easy it is to be seduced.

“Here, kid, here’s a buck. Go get yourself a soda,” Newsom said he tells them. Then a burger, then some beer.

“There comes a time later, a time to pay back,” Newsom said.

“It gets to the point where you’re involved in something you can’t get out of,” Newsom said. “You’ll do or you’ll get done.”

Newsom tries to help the youths find other interests.

“If a kid likes Bruce Lee and Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, I don’t push him to football, and if a kid likes the Raiders and the Rams, I don’t push him to karate,” Newsom said.

Casey Crouch was a straight-F student on probation for shoplifting when he came to Jeopardy. Newsom said the lanky blond Van Nuys teen-ager has turned himself around.

Casey practiced in the gym--maybe showed off just a little--with spins and kicks as the other youths lifted weights. Newsom held his hand up above his head as Casey whirled and snapped his foot about an inch from Newsom’s open palm.

“They have energy, all of them, on the street. It just needs to be directed,” Newsom said.