Use Carrots, Not Sticks, to Move Cops Back to L.A. : Police residency: Mortgage incentives and rent subsidies would cut out-of-town numbers.

No report published by the ACLU of Southern California has generated as much controversy as the one released on police residency last week. The report, “From the Outside in: Residency Patterns Within the Los Angeles Police Department,” detailed, for the first time, that more than 83% of LAPD officers live outside the city that employs them. It has been criticized for waging an unfair attack on the police.

Rather than knock police about where they live, we did this report because we believe in community policing and feel confident that in-city residency promotes the concept. The report is the start of a dialogue with the city on ways to enable more officers to live within its borders and to give them incentives to do so.

Among the incentives we propose are:

* Low interest--even no interest--mortgages to officers who move into the city. The program would be underwritten entirely by private lenders.

* Rent subsidies or rent-free apartments in high-crime neighborhoods, underwritten by the federal government or other public agencies or private landlords.

These in-city residency incentives would have no direct cost to the city. In these strapped financial times, we agree that the city cannot afford to fork over large housing subsidies to police officers. But these programs are free.

It’s unfortunate that our key recommendations--low-interest mortgages and rent subsidies--have been missed in the debate over the report. Some of the recommendations have already been embraced. The mortgage-incentive program, for instance, has been endorsed by a City Council committee, the Police Protective League and LAPD command officials. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, speaking at a town hall meeting with U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, urged city officials to find ways to encourage officers to live within Los Angeles. She cited the important link between residency, which creates a strong sense of being part of a community, and community policing.

Virtually all of the recommendations made in the report were developed by other jurisdictions, not the ACLU. Four years ago, Columbia, S.C., successfully implemented a low-interest mortgage program. Similar programs are running in Illinois, Virginia and New Jersey.

The program we envision would be entirely voluntary. No officer would be forced to move into the city; no officer would be penalized, financially or in career advancement, for deciding to live outside the city.

Of course, we couldn’t agree more that it’s the heart and mind of an officer rather than an address that makes the biggest difference in police work. And most of the cops in this city are good cops.

In-city residency is an important component of many community-policing plans. By living in the city, officers and their families must avail themselves of the same city services that other residents must use--everything from schools to fire to pothole repair. As members of the body politic, cops would help elect city government and would share the responsibility of apportioning scarce city resources. Being a city resident gives cops a real stake in the city in which they work.

Our report is beginning to have the constructive effect we intended. Let’s continue to move the discussion forward.