VAN NUYS : Guardian Angel Proposes Patrol for Boulevard

A 64-year-old Guardian Angel wants to establish a foot patrol to chase away the prostitutes and drug dealers who have permeated Sepulveda Boulevard for decades.

The idea, said G.C. “Brodie” Broderson, is to ease some of the burden on motels and other businesses on the boulevard that were recently ordered by the city to hire security to rid their premises of prostitutes. In exchange, the Angels want a rent-free headquarters.

So far, Broderson’s efforts have not met with much success. Although he attended a meeting of the motels last month, none have given the Angels permission to patrol their properties.

Broderson believes the motel owners are afraid of angering people who do not want the Angels patrolling the boulevard.

“There seems to be an awful lot of problems,” Broderson, a retired photographer from Mission Hills, said of the boulevard. “I do know that we can alleviate the problems by being there all the time.”

Identified mostly by their red berets, the Guardian Angels is a nonprofit group founded in 1979 by Curtiss Sliwa of New York. Since its inception, the organization has grown to more than 7,000 members worldwide.

The primary focus, Broderson said, is providing a visual presence to deter criminals, although group members have made citizen’s arrests, without the use of weapons.

Broderson joined 10 years ago after watching the Angels on television, but has found it difficult to recruit members in the Valley. The organization runs entirely on donations.

Broderson wants to implement nightly patrols on Sepulveda Boulevard with at least a dozen Angels. Their mission would be to discourage customers of drug dealers and prostitutes.

“When someone wants to buy crack and pulls up along the sidewalk, we walk up to them and shout, in a high-pitched voice, ‘Are you here to buy some crack?’ In a lot of cases, we can nag these people down.”

Capt. James McMurray of Van Nuys Division said he would welcome the patrols, as long as the Angels limit their dealings to driving away prostitutes, their customers and drug buyers. Confrontations with drug dealers or other felons would be dangerous, he said.

“We already have citizen groups out on the streets with video cameras and picket signs,” said McMurray. “All we need is a few months respite to keep (the criminals) out of Sepulveda Boulevard, and if the Guardian Angels can do that, they’re welcome.”

Flip Smith, president of the Sepulveda Boulevard Business Watch, said he supports McMurray’s opinion with some reservations.

“Maybe this vigilante group can walk up and down the street and keep these prostitutes moving along,” Smith said. “But I don’t want Sepulveda Boulevard looking like a war zone. I don’t want it looking like Beirut with those little hats they’ve got on.”

Broderson said he is willing to work with the community to have Angels on Sepulveda Boulevard.

“We don’t like to just barge in and say, ‘OK, we’re going to clean up your neighborhood,’ ” said Broderson. “If we’re not asked to come in, we don’t come in.”