Housing Project Residents Take Up Patrolling Duties

Clad in blue uniforms with yellow patches on their shoulders, 14 residents of Jordan Downs became the first security guards in the country Thursday to begin patrolling their public housing project.

The program is the latest effort by federal and city housing officials to crack down on crime and improve quality of life conditions in public housing developments, said George McQuade, spokesman for the city’s Housing Authority.

“This is a one-of-a-kind pilot program,” McQuade said. “We expect this to be a successful program among the other 3,000 housing authorities across the nation.”

The program was developed by residents and city housing commissioners and funded through a one-year, $248,160 contract from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, McQuade said.

During a graduation ceremony Thursday, the new security guards were cautioned by Los Angeles police officers about the task facing them. They will have to walk among the project’s 690 units armed only with note pads and flashlights. They will work closely with Los Angeles police and Housing Authority police officers.

They will also advise residents on how to secure their vehicles and their homes. They will be paid $8.12 an hour.

The greatest challenge for the resident guards will be to live up to the high standards of becoming role models, said city housing commissioner Ozie Gonzaque. Plagued by gang wars and robberies, Jordan Downs’ youths need someone to look up to, she said.

For Barbara Turner, 42, working as a resident guard will give her the chance to protect the housing projects she has lived in since 1965. She will be joined by her 22-year-old son, Vontae, who also became a security officer Thursday.

“I want to build my community and make it safer for the children that are coming up under me,” Turner said.