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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Los Angeles Police Dets. Richard McCauley and Rob Mossett stepped out of the 77th Street Division station at 10 p.m. armed not with high-powered rifles, but with Bishop Curtis Gadson, a leader who depends on a higher power for guidance and protection.

The unlikely trio--uniformed cops and a bishop in a clerical collar--set out on a familiar mission with a novel twist. Police are intent on enforcing city curfew laws in South Los Angeles neighborhoods with a man of God by their side to drive home the importance of keeping off the street late at night.

Gadson was recruited from the 77th Division Police Clergy Council, a group of clergy living or working in the area, to help persuade kids that it is in their best interests to obey the city’s 10 p.m.-to-sunrise curfew.

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As Mossett pulled out of the parking garage Friday night the police radio was abuzz; officers were already being dispatched to a second shooting that night. “It’s going to be a busy night,” he said.

Just outside the station, the trio met a 13-year-old boy who was skateboarding from a friend’s house to his home a block away. Flanked by officers in blue, the teenager was lectured by police on the dangers of being out late and was given a written warning.

Then the cleric stepped in.

“Do you understand they’re not picking on you?” asked Gadson, a 55-year-old Apostolic Pentecostal minister, who peppered the youth with questions about school and church attendance. “I’m out here to make sure you understand they’re doing this for your safety.”

Before being escorted to his home, the teenager said of Gadson: “The Lord probably did some good. He is here for a good reason.”

The 77th Division conducts curfew sweeps at least twice a month. But this was the first time a South Bureau division teamed up for a routine curfew patrol with clergy.

The patrols are a way for pastors to take a direct role in preventing youths from being hit by stray bullets or getting caught in gang cross-fire.

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“It’s good for [teenagers] to see someone from their own community,” McCauley said. “By addressing the curfew problem, hopefully we can curtail some of the gang-related shootings.”

Juveniles found after curfew are cited with a warning or a summons to appear with their parents in court, where they can be fined or sentenced to community service, McCauley said. Sometimes they are taken to the station to be picked up by their parents.

“The important thing is that we always either give them a ride or follow them to make sure they get home,” said McCauley, the division’s coordinator for juvenile crimes.

In February, the 77th, Southwest and Southeast LAPD divisions, and the Central and Lennox sheriff’s stations will hold a joint meeting with clergy to coordinate a regionwide curfew blitz, said Capt. Harlan Ward of the 77th Division.

Curbing late-night mischief that leads to crime is a priority, police said.

Near the intersection of Broadway and Manchester Avenue, the unmarked police car joined officers who had stopped and questioned two teenagers on bicycles. Unlike the previous youth, they were far from home, and the serial numbers on their bikes had been filed off, Mossett said. They were cited to appear in court with their parents.

One, 16, had recently been released from Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, where he spent four months for stealing a bike. He had little to say about having a pastor on hand but admitted that when police stopped him: “I was a little scared.”

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It is this fear that Gadson hopes to alleviate. He said he has no illusions about persuading youths not to go out after 10 p.m. but is concerned about building bridges between youths and law enforcement.

“In our community, police are perceived as the enemy,” said Gadson, who admits that on rare occasions that feeling may be justified. “I hope to shed some light on the youth so that they know the police officers are not the enemy. They are actually out there trying to protect them.”

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