Warning of ‘Video Zone’ Seeks to Curb Drug Sales

The red and white banners hang from street lights like a row of urban scarecrows, declaring this Parthenia Street neighborhood in Northridge an “LAPD Video Zone” and warning would-be criminals: “Buy Drugs, Go to Jail.”

But how well the signs work may depend on how long it takes for criminals to learn that there are, as yet, no video cameras. And even after they are installed--when is still undecided--the videotapes will be monitored by a civilian volunteer, not police.

“Do we have cameras going now? No,” said Los Angeles Police Capt. Vance Proctor who oversees the Devonshire Division. “Do the people over there think we do? Yes.”

The week-old program is an outgrowth of the LAPD’s community relations efforts--in this case, sanctioning a crime-fighting idea thought up by residents. There is, for example, no such thing as an “LAPD video zone.”

The banners were purchased by local apartment and business owners seeking to ward off street corner drug dealing and improve the neighborhood’s crime-tarnished reputation. Although drug dealing in the once-notorious Bryant-Vanalden neighborhood has declined dramatically in the last 18 months--largely because of LAPD sting operations and increased patrols--property owners rallied around the idea of posting the banners.

While the program is new to the San Fernando Valley, it is not unique.

A similar video surveillance program--using real cameras--is operated in Hollywood by apartment owners. Cities such as Tacoma, Wash., and Baltimore have also begun videotaping high-crime street corners.

But experts say it is difficult to measure how well the programs work. Arrests based on the videotapes are rare, and the tapes are sometimes ruled inadmissible as evidence in trials.

Nonetheless, community leaders and police support the 14 new banners, which hang on Parthenia between Tampa and Wilbur avenues. “This is an example of one community that’s working closely together--with the Police Department--to have a positive impact,” said Lorraine New, a spokeswoman for Park Parthenia Apartments, a large complex on Parthenia.

The apartment owners, community leaders and business owners who purchased the banners have the support of Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson. At his urging, the City Council waived the fees charged to groups seeking to hang street signs on city property.

Some crime experts say such programs tend to move drug dealing and related crime to other neighborhoods. And civil libertarians say video surveillance programs are a poor replacement for police patrols.

“We are not dismissing the frustration that leads to these measures . . . but do we really want every single aspect of our daily lives monitored?” said Ann Bradley, media director for the Los Angeles chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. “What right does the government have in monitoring people . . . innocently going about their daily lives?”

Moreover, she said, video cameras used in convenience stores and banks, for example, haven’t stopped robberies or holdups.

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Still, police and community activists in Hollywood say their program--which also was advertised with banners before the cameras were installed--has driven away gang members and prostitutes.

“It’s an excellent deterrent--whether the cameras are working or not,” said Joe Shea, the president of the Ivar Hill Community Assn. “It went from being one of the worst [areas] . . . to one of the safest.”

Police say they don’t have the personnel or the money to buy and monitor video cameras. In Hollywood, the apartment owners and residents raised money for three cameras, and the city Community Redevelopment Agency contributed $25,000 to buy three more.

Los Angeles police say they endorse the program because it gives residents a chance to address specific problems.

“If it works, great, I’ll be the first to buy stock in banners,” said LAPD Sgt. Eric Davis, who works with a narcotics abatement group that includes city attorneys and building and safety officials. “If it doesn’t, what have they lost?”

Proctor, of the Devonshire station, agreed that the video camera program is mostly a community relations effort. But he said he will seek money from the city Housing Authority to buy video cameras. In the meantime, he expects to have at least one camera operating soon. Once a day, the videotapes are to be viewed by a volunteer at the police station, he said.