COMMUNITY POLICING PRAISED, LINKED TO DECREASE IN CRIME.

Byline: Steven J. Gorman Daily News Staff Writer

A gathering of some 800 police officers and citizen advisers from around Los Angeles opened Saturday with a personal salute from one of their favorite TV heroes - actor Dennis Franz of the hit police series "NYPD Blue."

Franz, who plays the dedicated but sardonic Detective Andy Sipowicz, was at the Los Angeles Convention Center to help kick off a day of workshops and discussion groups on the city's burgeoning community-based policing program.

In remarks that were part tribute, part admonishment, Franz told those gathered for the Second Annual Police Advisory Board Summit that the Los Angeles Police Department "continues to be understaffed, and I'll weigh in with my two cents, underpaid."

And he said success in fighting crime depends on the "wholehearted support of each of you involved in community policing, and the almost 4 million Angelenos you represent."

"That includes the support of the mayor, the City Council and the Police Commission," Franz added.

For their part, Mayor Richard Riordan, Police Chief Willie L. Williams, Police Commission President Deirdre Hill and other officials attending the summit praised the community policing program and pledged continued support for it.

"If police are the front line in the fight against crime, you have crept behind the lines to reclaim our neighborhoods in enemy territory," City Councilwoman Laura Chick told the audience.

The program seeks to improve ties between police and the public by putting more officers on the streets, beefing up community relations staff at police stations and enhancing crime prevention programs, such as Neighborhood Watch.

A centerpiece of that effort was the formation two years ago of citizen advisory panels to serve as liaisons between the community and police captains in each of the LAPD's 18 geographic divisions.

The new emphasis on community policing is an outgrowth of the Christopher Commission, a study of LAPD management and community relations following the 1991 videotaped beating of African-American motorist Rodney King by four white police officers.

Last week, Hill said the Police Commission had begun a review to determine whether the Community Police Advisory Boards were effective.

Civilians and police alike attending Saturday's summit said the advisory panels have, indeed, made a substantial difference.

The Devonshire Division saw a 10 percent overall decline in crime last year, "not because we got more police officers on the street, but because we got more citizens involved," said Les Lovatt, a senior lead officer in North Hills.

"They've changed the way we relate to the community," Lovatt said of the advisory panels. "In the past, it's always been the Police Department by itself, saying, 'OK, let's go out and get the bad guys.' Now it's the Police Department and the community working together to solve problems."

In addition, the advisory boards have been an integral part of encouraging "the community to start regulating itself.

"You look at an apartment building that rents to dope dealers. We can't tell an apartment owner who to rent to. But (advisory boards) can put pressure on them," Lovatt said.

Becky Lohnes-Leveque, an advisory board member from the Devonshire Division, said the panels fit into Williams' goal of making the LAPD more "consumer-oriented" and fostering better cooperation from the public.

"There's no better way of making someone understand your product than to make them the salesperson," she said. "As a result, crime is down, violent crime is down and the perception of crime is down."

Lin Squires of Northridge, a member of both the Devonshire and Foothill advisory boards, said the program serves as a "two-way communication system."

As an example of the program's success, she cited a series car burglaries, vandalism and assaults that had plagued a Granada Hills shopping zone until the Devonshire advisory panel brought the matter to the attention of police, leading to a surveillance operation, arrests and improved lighting.

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Photo (1) Chris Escajeda, left, and Lt. Clyde Reliford laugh with Mayor Richard Riordan at the summit on community policing. (2) Diane Higginson of Chatsworth addresses a panel of officials at Saturday's policing summit. John Lazar/Special to the Daily News