NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH : Celebrity Corner

Residents of Brentwood used to note, happily, that their quiet, leafy neighborhood was rarely the source of much excitement or aggravation. No more.

Since the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, a constant cacophony of hovering news helicopters, traffic tie-ups and a seemingly endless wave of morbid curiosity seekers who come at all hours have turned parts of the neighborhood upside down. Grave Line Tours (yes, that’s the name), which visits infamous crime spots around Los Angeles, may make the homes a fixture on its route.

Though the Brentwood problem is obviously not the same thing, to say the least, as gang struggles in the streets and firearms going off throughout the night, it’s hard not to sympathize with the sentiments of frustrated neighbors posting signs that read “Get a life” and “Go home.” Residents, understandably, have asked for police barricades, no-parking signs and even tenting the condominium where the murders took place. Tow-away signs and some minor parking restrictions are helping already. But even stronger restrictions and tougher parking enforcement could help more.

Obviously the murder site, on Bundy Drive, a major north-south thoroughfare on the Westside, can’t be closed off as tightly as the Simpson home, on Rockingham Avenue. But the Los Angeles Police Department has been responding. The essence of community policing is police responsiveness to valid community concerns. And right now the people of Brentwood have a valid concern.