Citizen’s Arrests Halt Distribution of Syringes : Health: Neighbors force police to cite group for giving drug users in Hollywood clean needles. The tactic appears to circumvent the mayor’s effort to facilitate the program.

Just a week after Mayor Richard Riordan declared a state of emergency to allow for the distribution of clean needles to drug users, police have been forced by neighborhood activists to arrest three volunteers handing out the needles in Hollywood.

The volunteers, all members of the group Clean Needles Now, were booked and released Wednesday night after half a dozen neighborhood activists placed them under citizen’s arrest for breaking the state law that prohibits needle exchanges.

The group members vowed Thursday to continue distributing the clean needles as a means of reducing the transmission of AIDS through contaminated syringes. However, their arrests cast doubt on the effectiveness of the mayor’s declaration, which directed law enforcement officials to make investigations of needle exchange programs a low priority.

Riordan could not be reached for comment. But Capt. Glenn Ackerman of the LAPD’s Hollywood Division said police had no choice but to take the group members into custody and cite them for their activities because state law barring syringe distributions supersedes any action taken at the local level.

“If it appears a lawful citizen’s arrest has been made,” Ackerman said, “law mandates us to accept that arrest.”

Renee Edgington, the group’s leader, and members Mark Haag and Mark Henrickson were detained for about an hour and released.

The three were cited for the possession of a hypodermic needle, a violation of the state Business and Professional Code. They have been ordered to appear in court Oct. 5.

In addition to making the arrests, police also confiscated about 100 of the group’s needles at its distribution site at Cosmo Street and Selma Avenue.

The police action was taken at the request of several Hollywood citizens groups who say the needle exchange program condones illegal drug use and attracts derelicts.

“We don’t want anyone to get AIDS via dirty needles or by any other means,” said Joe Shea, president of the Ivar Hill Community Assn., who participated in the arrest efforts Wednesday night. “But we just can’t (support) this on public streets.”

Members of Clean Needles Now and city officials counter that the distribution effort is essential to stem the spread of AIDS.

“Programs like these have a significant impact on the lives of people who are at risk for HIV disease,” Henrickson said. “It seems pretty clear, the time is now for Los Angeles to get involved in some sort of intervention with drug users. If they wait too long, it’s too late.”

Edgington said she and other group members plan to distribute needles again next Wednesday at the site, even if it means risking another arrest.

“The facts are there are drugs in Hollywood,” said Edgington, whose group has been conducting needle exchanges throughout Los Angeles for the last two years. “The services need to be as visible as the drugs.”

Last Tuesday, Riordan--at the urging of Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg of Hollywood--declared the emergency and directed the city attorney and Police Department to avoid initiating investigations of needle exchanges.

In recent years, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and several Northern California counties have used similar declarations as a way to combat the spread of AIDS.

Recognizing the concerns of the residents in Hollywood, however, Riordan said the exchanges should be conducted in “stable, secure locations developed in consultation with residents of the community, business owners and other social service agencies.”

On Thursday, Goldberg’s chief deputy, Sharon Delugach, said the councilwoman was trying to secure another location in the Hollywood area to distribute the needles.

“What happened Wednesday night didn’t serve anybody,” Delugach said. “It didn’t serve the taxpayers. It didn’t serve the Police Department. It didn’t serve the community at large. All the resources could have been put into saving lives.”

Times staff writer Isaac Guzman contributed to this story.