Clinton Calls for Steps to Rid Projects of Guns : Crime: The President proposes using metal detectors and regular frisking. A Chicago court ruling blocks sweeps in search of weapons.

In an effort to get guns out of gang-infested public housing projects, President Clinton called Saturday for installing metal detectors at the entrances to crime-ridden buildings and for regular frisking of people who might be carrying weapons.

“Every law-abiding American, rich or poor, has the right to raise children without fear of criminals terrorizing where they live,” Clinton said in his weekly radio address.

The new Administration policy on guns in public housing came in response to a ruling by a federal judge in Chicago that blocked authorities from conducting sweeps of apartments in search of weapons. Such mass searches without probable cause violate the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures, U.S. District Judge Wayne R. Anderson said in his April 7 ruling.

But Administration officials said public housing authorities may take a series of strict steps to seize weapons without violating the Constitution. They also said the vast majority of residents in public housing support stronger gun-control measures.

“The residents have requested these sweeps,” Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros said at a White House briefing Saturday. “They are nearly desperate with the conditions as they are.”

Cisneros outlined five steps that officials in Chicago and elsewhere can use for regaining control of their buildings from gangs and drug dealers:

* Put armed police and metal detectors at the entrances to buildings. “It is essential to get control of the lobbies,” Cisneros said. Some buildings in Chicago use “rent-a-cops” who are intimidated by armed gang members, he said.

* Erect fences around public housing projects. This simple step has cut crime by 40% in some cities and put a stop to rampant drug dealing in the projects, he said.

* Conduct weapon searches in common areas of the projects, such as grounds and stairwells. While the Fourth Amendment generally bars police from entering a person’s apartment without a warrant, it does not bar them from searching for weapons in hallways, stairwells or vacant units.

* Frisk suspicious-looking individuals for weapons. The Supreme Court has said repeatedly that officers can “pat down” a person they believe may be involved in a crime to see if the suspect has a gun or knife.

* Urge tenants to sign consent forms that permit police searches for weapons. Cisneros said public housing tenants are required to permit inspections as part of maintenance procedures, and they might be willing to permit regular, unit-by-unit searches to rid their buildings of drugs and weapons.

“The residents could vote on this. That would be an important factor in a court test,” he said.

Still, the notion of a majority-mandated consent could pose legal problems. In his ruling, Anderson said tenants who favor unit-by-unit inspections cannot vote to “suspend their neighbors’ rights” against unwanted searches.

In past decisions, the Supreme Court has upheld searches of a person’s home or property when the owner consented in advance, but the justices have stressed that consent must be voluntary.

Nonetheless, Assistant Atty. Gen. William Bryson suggested that public housing tenants could be required to permit regular searches of their units as part of their lease agreements.

“Under some circumstances, it can be a condition of the lease,” Bryson told reporters. “We can square this with the Fourth Amendment. We are dealing with an emergency situation.”

In their comments, Administration officials emphasized that they were focusing on crime-ridden housing units where gangs have taken control and where shootings are routine.

The new anti-crime steps “would not be appropriate for a senior citizens center in Sarasota that hasn’t had any crime problems,” Bryson said.

In his radio address, Clinton said crime and violence in public housing projects is taking away the basic rights of the children who grow up there.

“They include the right to go out to the playground and the right to sit by an open window, the right to walk to the corner without fear of gunfire, the right to go to school safely in the morning and the right to celebrate your 10th birthday without coming home to bloodshed and terror,” the President said.

Chicago has 67 high-rise public housing buildings in a four-mile stretch of South State Street, Cisneros said, and gangs have taken control of several buildings.

In the past week, he said, there were 15 shootings and five deaths in these complexes. Young drug dealers, using high-powered rifles from the upper floors, pick off their rivals walking below, he said.

The get-tough policies announced Saturday “are targeted to Chicago, but the same approach will be available to other communities,” Cisneros said.