Neighbors, Police Team Up to Make Park Safer

PANORAMA CITY —  Jorge Herrera lives across the street from the Sepulveda Recreation Center, but when he wants to kick a soccer ball with his 8-year-old son, they go to a park in Northridge where they feel safe.

The Sepulveda park, with its gymnasium, baseball diamonds and picnic areas, should be a refuge for residents of this densely populated working-class neighborhood. Instead, it has become a symbol of fear and frustration.

So the Los Angeles Police Department has joined neighbors in an experimental community policing program aimed at solving crime problems there. If successful, they hope to use the methods elsewhere in the city.

Led by Officer Randy Hoffmaster of the Van Nuys Division, neighbors and police have met in four workshops to think of ways to roust troublemakers from the park. They are the second group in the city to take part in the LAPD’s Community Policing Problem Solving Course, a modified version of a course taught at the Police Academy.

“We needed to give the course a practical application, and we chose the park because that area had one of the highest crime rates in the city,” Hoffmaster said. “When you’ve got a lot of people living in a small area, the park should be a place they can go to seek a little peace of mind. It’s unfortunate when families won’t use the park because they are scared.”

Last week, Herrera, Hoffmaster and about 45 Panorama City residents and officers from the Van Nuys Division gathered in the park’s old gymnasium for the final meeting of the problem-solving course.

Earlier in the fall, participants met in groups of two officers and about half a dozen civilians. At their final meeting, the groups were ready to submit their “action plans” for a safer park.

The groups suggested, for example, improved lighting, youth soccer programs and declaring the park a drug-free zone. One group even suggested alternating the park’s sprinkler schedule, threatening loiterers with surprise soakings. Police also taught them how to spot problems and contact the appropriate authorities to resolve problems other than crime.

Herrera, a 47-year-old aerospace worker and father of five, plans to share what he’s learned with the residents of his condominium complex.

“Be alert, that’s what we try to tell our neighbors,” Herrera said. “We appreciate the effort the police are making to clean this area up.”

Both police and residents say the success of the program depends on the willingness of participants to follow through on their plans now that formal instruction has ended.

“It never stops. It’s not like OK, we’ve attended the workshops, now we are done with it. We’ve got to keep it going,” said Carlos Ferreyra, a civilian member of the Police Advisory Board who helped teach the course.

Cmdr. Garrett Zimmon, head of the LAPD’s community-based policing efforts, said the third and fourth series of workshops are now underway in the Hollywood and 77th Street divisions. Zimmon hopes the workshops will eventually be held citywide.

“I think we have to realize that this kind of program can’t stop all the crime in these areas, but if we work together we can get better results,” Zimmon said. “Can you rip a phone book in half? No, but you can if you do it one page at a time.”

Participants in the Panorama City group will meet again next month to discuss how well their crime-busting plans are working.

Last Monday, after the last workshop, residents expressed praise for the department’s efforts.

“When officers see there are a lot of people in the community who want to solve issues, it re-motivates and reinspires them,” said Ernst Cabriales, an instructor at the Police Academy who helped lead the course.

“In my opinion, community policing is the only way to do business in Los Angeles,” he said. “There is no way 9,000 officers can police 3 million people. It’s just not possible without this kind of cooperation.”

Mike Hogan, the recreation center’s director, sympathizes with neighbors who are scared to use its facilities, but he said the park’s bad reputation is sometimes blown out of proportion. A lot of teenagers hang out in the park, he said, and although their appearance and manner can be unsettling for some people, they are mostly well-behaved.

Still, Hogan attended the workshops, saying he was encouraged by neighbors’ eagerness to support improvements.

“It was a very good experience. I thought people were apathetic and didn’t want to get involved, but I see that some people really do,” he said.

Neighbor Clarence “Lefty” Blasco agreed that the park’s reputation was worse than it should be but added, “Every park has problems. We just want it to be better so more people will use it.”