HARVARD HEIGHTS : Safety Group Seeks to Fund Police Station

A group concerned with public safety in Koreatown and the Mid-City area is organizing a campaign to fund a police substation and community center, possibly in a former bank building that is also on the wish list of other neighborhood groups.

The Koreatown Public Safety Assn. is laying the legal and organizational groundwork to raise the $2 million it estimates will be needed to establish an endowment to maintain and operate the facility.

The association hopes to acquire use of the building at 1819 S. Western Ave. through an arrangement between its owner, the Bank of America, and the city.

B of A, city officials and representatives from the Police Department and community groups have had preliminary discussions about using the building for community purposes. Bank officials said they are continuing to work with the Police Department on the disposition of the site.

Before the public safety association’s involvement, several neighborhood groups, including the Harvard Heights and Western Heights neighborhood associations, expressed interest in the building as a community center and recently painted over the graffiti on its walls.

Joe Ryan of the Los Angeles Community Reinvestment Group, which represents five local neighborhood associations and seeks to promote community reinvestment by financial institutions under the federal Community Reinvestment Act, said established neighborhood groups should be given the first opportunity to manage the facility.

Ryan pointed to a January, 1992, statement B of A made to the Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors, which states that the corporation would consider transferring closed branches to “a community-based, nonprofit organization on a case-by-case basis.”

Ryan said bank and police officials told him that the neighborhood groups lack the capacity to run the facility, but he said they are missing the point. “Institutions have to take a chance on this neighborhood,” Ryan said. “Institutions not taking risks in this community is why we had the riots.”

For now, the Police Department seems to have thrown its support behind the new public safety association. At a recent meeting, Assistant Chief Bernard Parks of the department’s Office of Operations commended the group for its efforts to raise money for a police substation, something the cash-strapped department would be hard-pressed to do on its own.

The public safety association, which draws most of its members from among Korean American clergy and community leaders, invites the public to participate in its campaign, said organizer Yohngsohk Choe. He stressed that it would not be a solely Korean effort, saying the association plans to add African Americans and Latinos to its board.

“Our intention is to find a home for all neighborhood associations,” Choe said. “It’s not only for Koreans. We have to raise the money so we can have a perpetual program with a clear objective and not just a short-term project.”

George Richter, a member of the association, said: “We’re all in the same boat when it comes to public safety. We want this to be a multiethnic effort and we’re looking for partners throughout the community.”