Armed Mulholland Patrols Keep a Careful Watch on Overlooks

One night this spring, a resident living near the Hollywood Bowl overlook on Mulholland Drive awoke to find some uninvited guests in his living room.

A group of people he had never seen before stood at his bar drinking his Scotch. By the time the man got to the phone to call police, the people had fled to a car parked nearby and screeched away into the night.

If it happened today, the interlopers might have found themselves rushing out of the house and into the clutches of armed park rangers who patrol the area on weekends, said John Diaz, a Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy analyst and part-time ranger.

On recent weekends, park rangers have been patrolling three Mulholland Drive scenic overlooks--above Fryman Canyon, Universal City and the Hollywood Bowl--to rid them of vandals and others who hold noisy all-night parties, scrawl graffiti, start fires and invade homes. This past weekend, the conservancy added another ranger to the patrols, increasing the manpower from two to three.

Patrols Doubled

The new patrols represent a doubling of time devoted to checks of the area. They were made possible by a $100,000 fee a developer paid to the conservancy, which acquires land in the Santa Monica Mountains for parks and open space.

The scenic overlooks close at sundown, and it is illegal to park near them on Mulholland Drive. Because funding was inadequate before May 15, rangers only patrolled the three-mile strip along Mulholland when the level of citizen complaint “reached a screech,” said Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the conservancy, which opened the overlooks in 1984.

Los Angeles Police Department forces are stretched too thin to respond quickly to nuisance calls, Edmiston said.

“The increased patrols are definitely good news for us,” said Gary Nestra, president of L.A. Overlook, a group of 600 residents of the Mulholland Corridor who are concerned about noise and vandalism. “The far-reaching question is, what happens after the $100,000 runs out?”

Diaz estimated the $100,000 will last two years.

“We’ve already seen an improvement,” agreed Jim Meinel, 44, a member of L.A. Overlook. “As long as it’s done, it will make a difference. They planned the overlooks for day use and at night, the city just forgets the overlooks are there and leaves them for the rabble-rousers.”

Councilmen Discuss Funding

Discussions about further funding for security on Mulholland Drive have already begun among the five councilmen--Michael Woo, Joel Wachs, Marvin Braude, John Ferraro and Zev Yaroslavsky--whose districts encompass the scenic drive, said Eric Shockman, senior deputy to Woo.

In the meantime, three armed rangers per night will patrol the overlooks in four-wheel-drive vehicles, citing people for illegal parking and drinking in public, said Jim Griffith, chief ranger of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.

In some ways, the patrols have been too effective, he said.

“We’ve scared off people like the Valley teen-agers who come up here after the movies to park,” Griffith said. “That leaves the belligerent hard-core gang-bangers who throw rocks and bottles, and aren’t the least bit affected by the parking tickets we give them.”

But Diaz is dedicated to the cause. After working all day at the conservancy, he and Edmiston occasionally don their green and khaki ranger uniforms, and patrol the overlooks.

“It’s sort of like a territorial war up there between us and the gangs, who bring up about 10 carloads of eight people each on weekends,” Diaz said. “I just hope we win because it’s unfortunate that a few people are ruining the overlooks for everybody.”