Iron Gates Taking Bite Out of Back-Alley Crime

Douglas Waddel used to wake up at least once a week to find so much trash dumped in the alley behind his South Los Angeles home that he couldn’t open his garage door.

That was before the city put up gates at the alley’s entrances, turning a once-dangerous wasteland into a secure neighborhood refuge.

“We had burglaries and traffic going through the alleys, and the gates really cut down on that,” said Waddel, a retired city truck driver who lives near 91st Street and Towne Avenue.

Installing 8-foot-high wrought-iron gates to reduce back-alley crimes is the heart of a city program so popular that officials plan to more than double the number of gated alleys throughout the city--to more than 400.

The effort started as a pilot program five years ago in South-Central, where illegal dumping has been a chronic problem. Under the program, city workers install the gates and give the keys to residents, who are then responsible for maintaining the enclosed property.

Since the program expanded citywide in 1996, the city has sealed off 214 alleys, most in South-Central. Later this month, city officials plan to hire additional contractors to seal off 220 more alleys.

But the program, which is called the Nuisance Alley Conversion Project, has run into a few problems. Dozens of gated alleys are choked with weeds and trash because they are neglected by the neighbors responsible for their upkeep.

“Overall it’s working very well,” said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Rita Walters, whose South Los Angeles district includes most of the gated alleys. “We do have some problems that were unanticipated, and that is that people are going in and out and forgetting to lock the gates behind them.”

She added: “Some residents are even dumping their own trash in the alleys.”

The program has widespread support from residents next to the closed alleys who say the gates have reduced illegal dumping, drug sales, prostitution and other crimes.

Norris Daniel, a 38-year resident of South Los Angeles, said he would often find trash and stolen cars in the alley next to his home near 50th Street and Budlong Avenue.

About two years ago, Daniel said, he bought a new set of tires for his car and was charged $1 to dispose of his old tires. A few days later, he found his old tires dumped in his own alley.

“Can you believe it?” he said with a chuckle.

Those problems all but disappeared after the gates were installed two years ago. “It’s worked beautifully,” he said.

Police also laud the program, saying the gates eliminate a popular hangout for criminals.

“These alleys are a nuisance,” said LAPD Officer Juan Cruz, who has patrolled in South-Central for seven years. “I wish they were all closed.”

The city’s early developers envisioned alleys as a way to hide garage doors, utility poles and trash cans from the front of homes.

But the back alleys have become so inaccessible because of illegal dumping that they are no longer used for garbage pickups or police and fire access.

When the program started five years ago, neighbors near the gated alleys contributed $50 each for the cost of the gates. The first few alleys were converted into mini-parks, with trees, picnic tables and barbecues. In the summer, neighbors host parties in the tiny urban sanctuaries.

Since the program expanded, the city has picked up the $3,700 cost of each closure.

City officials believe that the program will pay for itself by cutting into the city’s $5-million annual alley-cleaning budget. About 60% of that money is spent in South-Central.

Officials estimate that the program has saved the city about $250,000 a year. They hope the expanded program will increase that savings to about $2 million annually.

“Every time we close one of these alleys, we save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Bob Hayes, a spokesman for the Public Works Department.

The department is poised to increase the number of alleys that are gated from about 12 per month to nearly 35, he said.

“We get petitions every day for new gates,” he said.

Before gates are installed, the city sends a crew from the Los Angeles Conservation Corps to clean and weed each alley.

The long list of alleys that the city plans to close includes the unpaved alley that runs past the home of Carolyn Coulter near Hoover and 76th streets. She said she can’t wait for the gates to go up.

“People have dumped everything in that alley,” she said. “Dead dogs, trash, everything.”

A bullet hole in the wall of Coulter’s kitchen is a reminder of a recent shooting in the alley, she said.

“Gate it up. I’m all for it.”