CHEAP LAPD HOME LOANS URGED\Police Commission to weigh ACLU plan to persuade officers to live\in city.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

The American Civil Liberties Union has a new plan to encourage police officers to live in L.A. - below-market home loans.

A 1994 ACLU survey found more than 83 percent of LAPD officers live outside the city, many in predominantly white suburban areas far from the ethnically diverse neighborhoods they police.

Following up on those results, the ACLU approached several financial institutions - and found three interested in establishing programs to give LAPD officers mortgage loans discounted by 1 percent to 3 percent.

"We think that having officers as part of the body politic of the city is important in terms of improving the sense of connection between officers and the community in which they work," said Allan Parachini, the ACLU public affairs director.

But to be a success, Parachini said the city must step in to endorse and help set up the program, which would be run by the private institutions.

Police Commission President Deirdre Hill has set the issue for discussion by the commission today.

Hill was out of town and unavailable for comment Monday, but Police Commissioner Bert Boeckmann said he shares an interest in encouraging LAPD officers to live in the city.

"From my standpoint, if we have our employees live in the community in which they work, it's a plus," Boeckmann said. "I think you identify with the community."

In a letter to Hill on Feb. 29, Parachini said he has approached the Police Protective League about the proposal, but has so far received a cold-shoulder which he attributes to "traditional estrangement between our two organizations."

Parachini said he is trying to meet with the union board to argue for the program, and union director Dennis Zine said Monday he might be open to an incentives program, depending on what it provided.

Zine said police officers live outside the city for the same reasons as other city workers, because they feel that they cannot afford homes in the Los Angeles neighborhoods that are safe with good schools.

"The officers I speak with live outside the city because of quality of life, schools, neighborhoods, affordability," Zine said. "If you look at the so-called safe neighborhoods, the prices are not within the police officer's salary range."