Partners in Grime : Deputies and Program for At-Risk Youths Give Neighborhood Eyesore a New Lease on Life

When two sheriff’s deputies came to Walter Kagler’s home in Willowbrook last November and said they wanted to help him fix up his house, he was a bit suspicious.

“Oh no, here comes the Trojan horse,” he remembers telling himself.

But four months later, when the feared Trojan horse finally arrived, it came in the form of a motor home bearing 12 deputies--members of the community-based police team from the Century sheriff’s station.

The deputies, with the help of 11 at-risk youths in a construction training program, installed a new roof and painted the house during the last two weeks in February.

Kagler, 70, who lives alone and survives on his Army pension and Social Security checks, had let the outside of his house on 127th Street deteriorate for several years. He has lived there nearly half a century after leaving the Army at the end of World War II. He later reenlisted and retired in 1964.

“Man, that house was raggedy,” said Greg Jordan, 19, who has lived on the block most of his life. “His house was the only one on the block that was messed up.”

The Century sheriff’s station, which opened in 1992 to replace the Firestone and Lynwood stations, began hearing complaints of the eyesore at meetings of the neighborhood block watch.

“The block watch told us he needed some help,” said Sgt. Mitch McMahon, who heads the team of 12 deputies.

“This is a very peaceful street with well-maintained homes,” said another resident, Deitra Lawrence, “And Walter is a like an uncle to me. When something breaks at my house, he is over here to fix it. But the outside of his house was just plain run-down.”

The deputies thought Kagler’s home would be a good project for their community-based police team, which was started with funds from the 1994 federal crime bill. The Century station hired 12 new officers, assigned them to regular patrol duties, and pulled 12 veterans into the community policing team.

Although community policing team members are armed and can make arrests, they dress in white polo shirts and focus on talking with residents about their concerns and fears. And though the Century team had cleaned alleys and vacant lots, and painted over graffiti, they had yet to focus on an individual’s home--until Kagler answered his door and wearily listened to deputies bearing gifts.

When Deputies Richard Benedetti and Bob Tubbs made that initial visit to the Kagler home, they saw a roof full of holes and an exterior paint job that was peeling like a bad sunburn. The officers began making calls to businesses in the area in an effort to get some supplies donated. Christian Co., a Watts roof and waterproofing company, donated roofing materials. Lyle Van Patton, a businessman based in the Athens district, contributed the paint.

The deputies were eager to help, and so were their partners in this restoration: volunteers from Youth Employment Systems, a downtown training program that is schooling 36 young people, some former gang members, in an 18-month course focusing on construction skills that will lead to high school diplomas.

At Kagler’s home last week, 11 young adults from the YES program scraped and painted the house, along with the deputies. In four hours, the house went from being an eyesore to one that blends nicely with the other neat houses that line 127th.

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Lamar Stevenson, 20, one of the young men who helped paint, had heard of YES through a friend and was accepted out of 300 applicants.

“A lot of young folks are just wasting their time getting involved with the sheriff’s in a negative way,” Stevenson said. “At least we’re getting involved with them in a positive way.”

A few months ago, Maria Estudillo, 19, was hanging around gang members at El Segundo Boulevard and Normandie Avenue. “Now I have something to do,” Estudillo said as she wielded a paintbrush. “I’m over here, not there. It makes me feel good to help this man.”

Deputy Mark Lopez, 30, took a break. With his 9-millimeter pistol in his holster, a long paint roller in his hand and white spots all over his clothes, he looked proudly at the work.

“This is just the start. We’re trying to get this program off the ground. It’s all about getting the neighborhood residents involved. Be it taking back a street from gangs or drugs or just cleaning up. Anything is possible when the community lends a hand.”

Nathaniel Primous, the 127th Street block club president, saw the house that evening when he came home from work. “I was amazed. It was beautiful,” he said. “It makes me feel great,” Kagler said. “You don’t expect people to come by and do things for you.”