ARMED GUARDS MAKE SOME SHOP OWNERS FEEL SAFER.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

Shade trees and picnic tables attract high school kids and business people alike to the Plaza Del Rancho, a shopping center patrolled by guards armed with guns.

To many of the Valencia High School teens who pour down the hill at lunch time to the fast-food spots at the minimall in one of America's safest cities, the armed guards are gun-toting intimidators who hassle them for trivial matters.

But others - particularly tenants - are thankful for their presence and feel the center on Newhall Ranch Road and Avenue Tibbits has been visited by fewer troublemakers since the private armed security guards began patrolling the center in April 1998.

Either way, the three guards continue making their daily rounds through the center between 6:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., holding fast to their duty to prevent loitering, stop smoking by underage teens and to keeping the peace.

Before The Newhall Land and Farming Co. hired the Farnham Security Inc. guards, teens loitered and blocked the entrances to businesses, the guards said. Cigarette butts covered the outdoor eating areas after the high school lunch period.

With more than 20 years of law enforcement experience, the guards, who would not give their names, said they have stopped crime, ranging from the arrests of two pedophiles to admonitions to teens stealing soft drinks from Carl's Jr.

``Most people are glad we're here,'' a guard said. ``Customers feel more comfortable.''

While customers agreed that the guards' presence would thwart crime in the center, adults said they were probably unnecessary, and teens said they believe the guards are there just to give them a hard time.

``I don't think they are welcome here at all,'' said 16-year-old Christina Campos, a junior at Valencia High School. ``Last year, when I was a sophomore, I was told very rudely to leave the parking lot at Carl's. They said, you know you can't be loitering. I said I was just talking to this person. What's so bad about standing and talking to a friend?''

Fifteen-year-old Brent Tuttle won't patronize Carl's Jr. because of the guards.

``They tell people to step outside for not doing anything,'' he said. ``They search for cigarettes and try to harass us.''

James Schauer, 16, said the guards should tone it down a bit, especially since they are armed.

``They carry guns, and I don't think they should,'' he said.

Marlee Lauffer, spokeswoman for Newhall Land, which owns the center, said that hiring armed guards is not meant to be intimidating. It was done as a service to customers and tenants at the center, which opened in early 1998, she said.

Newhall Land has various forms of security at other centers, including Valencia Town Center, River Oaks and North Park Village Square, Lauffer said. Some are armed and others aren't. It depends on the security company, she said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detective Max Godinez said the guards' presence has made a significant difference at the center. ``The (guards) are very good at doing their jobs,'' he said.

When problems arise, the guards call sheriff's deputies.

Some adult customers questioned said they were puzzled about the need for armed guards in a city ranked by the FBI as the fourth safest in the nation.

But tenants at the center said the armed guards raised their comfort level.

Rose Kim, a pediatric dentist who works at the center and has a 3-year-old son in preschool next door at the Sunshine Child Care and Learning Center, said she feels safer with the guards around.

``I really do feel they add to the security of this place,'' she said.

Alejandra Guerrero, who works at Select Personnel Services at the center, said she has an added sense of comfort because of the guards' presence.

``I think they do a good job,'' she said. ``I feel more safe with them here.''

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PHOTO Some business owners are at odds with customers over the use of armed guards at the shopping center next to Valencia High School.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News