Crackdown Earns Neighbors’ Cautious Praise

The praise was cautious and often tempered, but many residents of South-Central Los Angeles said they hoped Saturday’s raid by a law enforcement task force will bring tranquillity to neighborhoods often racked by gang violence.

“I wouldn’t want to be raided or intimidated by the police, but sometimes I think we need a little more police protection in the area,” said one resident who asked not to be identified. “I’ve seen more police here today than I’ve ever seen.”

As the first light of morning spilled across some of the toughest neighborhoods in the city, Los Angeles Police Department officers and FBI agents, armed with warrants, swarmed down. By late afternoon when more than 60 arrests had been made, residents of South-Central--the focus of the raid--were still talking over back fences about the raid and who had been taken away in handcuffs.

“It’s quieter in their neighborhood today than it’s ever been,” said James Washington, who has lived on 69th Street near Denker Avenue for 27 years.

Although some offered positive reviews, others reported problems.

A tearful Betty Jones pointed out extensive damage to her home near 85th Street and Western Avenue, which she said was caused by officers who arrested her brother for allegedly having outstanding traffic warrants and her son for allegedly possessing a cloned cellular phone.

Her front door was demolished and dresser drawers had been emptied onto the floor. Several closet doors that had locks on them were torn from their hinges. The hall closets had locks, Jones said, not to hide any illegal contraband, but to prevent another, drug-addicted son from pawning their contents.

“It doesn’t make sense to knock down these doors. We have keys to all these doors,” Jones said. A few blocks away on 83rd Street, Charles and Jodean Robinson said officers handcuffed their son to a chain-link fence in the front yard--and then released the 24-year-old. “They embarrassed us in front of our neighbors,” Charles said.

Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Arthur Holmes said Saturday evening that he had no details on complaints about how the raid was conducted. Any allegation of officer misconduct or other complaints will be investigated, he said.

Thomas Favors, 40, who works as a probation officer in San Bernardino, said he does not like to see police knocking down the doors of people just because their children might be in trouble with police. But neighborhood gang warfare must end, he said.

Thomas Byas Jr., sitting in his living room watching UCLA advance to the finals of the NCAA basketball tournament, summed up what others in the targeted area said.

“I’m glad to have them around,” he said about the police. “As long as they respect us.” Times staff writers John L. Mitchell and Eric Slater contributed to this story.