The Cop Who Lives Next Door : Bucking the trend of Los Angeles officers residing outside city limits, Keith Thomas sees definite advantages to living near where he works in South-Central.

I’ve lived in the 77th area for the last 20-something years, and I’ve lived in the same house for the last seven years. People on my street know I’m a police officer, and as long as I’m not a police officer who goes crazy and shoots in my back yard, I think my neighbors feel better because of me.

I think it makes a difference to people that I’m from the area because I hear too often, “Well, you don’t know what it’s like to live here.” But I know, so you can’t tell me, “I have to go out and sell drugs” or “I have to go out and do this or that.” That’s not true. I’m not doing it and I’m in the same situation you are in.

But not everybody is comfortable working in the area they grew up in, or around their friends, or in the area where their kids live. I can understand that. The only thing I think most officers worry about is their families.

To have a suspect know that your family is over there is probably the only thing you really worry about. Having someone in a position where they can bother your family, well, that’s the thing that gets most people. I feel a little different because, while my street is not quiet every night, and I’ve seen my fellow officers come out and do raids and I’ve had shootings on my streets, I’ve also seen that in Beverly Hills and in Fontana. There is no place I know of where I can go and feel 100% safe.

Overall, living here has been a positive in that I have a lot of street knowledge, and that means knowing body language; it’s figuring out what a suspect might do by remembering what you might do when you were in the same kind of situation.

The academy can’t teach you everything about how to survive on the streets or how to talk or approach people in a manner that won’t make them feel belittled or intimidated. It’s something you have to have, an ability to talk to people. If they don’t feel comfortable around you or feel like they can’t trust you, then you won’t be getting any information from them.

In this area, the 77th, I see a lot of people daily who I remember from growing up. I remember what kind of people they were then and what tendencies they had. They may not be the same way now, but I know what to look for. So if they were a mental patient with violent tendencies, then I have the advantage of knowing maybe this is someone I just can’t walk up on. Whereas an officer who doesn’t know him or never met him won’t have the same advantage.

I tried to move at one time 70 miles away. I started thinking to myself that means I’ll have to drive 70 miles every day, and I’m getting one more bedroom for twice as much money. For me, it wasn’t worth it to move.

When I think about it, I live in a place where I get a breeze from the ocean. I can be at work on my bike in 20 minutes and no one can give extra patrol to my house better than I can.

I remember once my dog was scratching on the back door and my wife was at home with our baby son. And I was working and she called because she thought there was a burglar. I had 11 police officers in my back yard before I could get to my house, and the call came out Code 3, possible burglary in progress. The poor dog was the only thing in the yard, but there were 11 police officers in 20 or 30 seconds. Where else can I get that kind of response?

I’ve spoken to a few fellow officers who want to move back into the area because they are tired of commuting or tired of seeing the area they lived in change and become occupied by the bad element of some other part of Los Angeles where the prices of homes are lower.

You may be the first one out in a new tract home, but who is going to move in around you? It may be the person you put away just yesterday for rape or robbery who is also trying to get away from Los Angeles.

I’m not trying to get away from Los Angeles. I’m trying to make it the nicest place I’ve ever lived in. And the place where I live now is the nicest place I’ve ever lived. It’s not perfect, but I don’t think you will ever find the perfect place.

I like Los Angeles and being able to get on any freeway in five minutes. I live close to the Sports Arena and the Forum. I live near major shopping areas, the beach. I stay because everything is here. Living way out there with all the loud crickets would kind of give me rattled nerves.

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