CONTINUED VIOLENCE IS THE PRICE OF SILENCE.

Byline: EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON

MURDER is never a nice or a pretty subject to write or talk about. It's even harder when the victim is a loved one, or you are a close friend of someone who has lost a son or daughter to street violence. And the pain and anguish are even more gut-tearing when the killers can walk the streets, sometimes with brazen impunity, secure in the knowledge that they won't be fingered.

That's exactly the agony that a close friend of mine, Marcia Holmes, has to deal with. One year ago this month her daughter, Ashley Cheval, was gunned down in broad daylight on Western Avenue in South Los Angeles.

Ashley was Marcia's only child. I saw and felt the grief that Marcia went through. I also felt Marcia's frustration after she made constant calls to Los Angeles Police Department homicide investigators trying to find out if they had any leads or suspects in the killing, and being told there was nothing tangible.

Even in July, when the Los Angeles City Council put up a $75,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killers, tongues remained glued. The case remains unsolved not because of foot-dragging, indifference, or a groaning load of case files by LAPD detectives, but because of fear.

Somebody had to have seen something since the murder occurred on a busy main street during the day. Yet witnesses were simply too terrified to come forth. Their reluctance has frustrated and infuriated police and prosecutors.

Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Halim Dhanidina calls the problem colossal: "I don't think we have ever had a gang case where the specter of fear didn't raise its head for at least one witness."

This colossal problem deepens the fear and panic of many blacks and Latinos over violent crime in L.A. Many are scared stiff that they'd suffer retaliation if they blow the whistle on a violent perpetrator. And that the police can't or won't protect them.

Though homicides have plunged in L.A. County from a decade ago, a Latino male in his 20s is nine times more likely to be murdered here than a young white male. A black male in his 20s is an astounding 30 times more likely to be a murdered. The chances are good that many of the murderers will not be caught.

LAPD homicide investigators note that gang members that kill often have committed multiple killings. They are emboldened to continue their wanton violence precisely because they feel there is little chance that they'll be caught. And if they are, witnesses will not testify.

Many blacks and Latinos feel the risk is simply too great if they unzip their lips. But that silence virtually ensures there will be more black and Latino victims in L.A. and even more unsolved murders.

While offers of money won't break the code of silence, a guarantee of witness protection and security might.

The L.A. County District Attorney's Office has a witness-security program and it can be an effective weapon to get tongues loosened in tough murder cases. But many local witness security programs are cash-, resource- and personnel-starved. And there existence is barely known to the public.

But a well-oiled witness protection certainly can work wonders in clearing the murder books. The federal witness security program is proof of that. In the nearly four decades the program has been running, witnesses have helped put away a lot of bad guys from mobsters to terrorists. Federal prosecutors boast they have achieved a near 90 percent conviction rate in cases in which witnesses have been involved in the protection program. In that time, not a single witness who followed security procedures has been killed or physically harmed.

The problem, though, is money. The feds lap up most of the dollars for witness security while states have to scratch and claw for the meager funds. Then, in a Catch-22, the states must reimburse the feds for the cost of providing the protection monies unless they get a waiver. This is a cumbersome and drawn-out process, and it's a huge disincentive for local prosecutors to boost their witness security programs.

There are two bills currently working their way through Congress that could change this. They would expand state and local witness security programs and allow the Justice Department to directly provide money to local prosecutors for beefed up witness protection. Congress should pass the bills and President George W. Bush should sign them fast.

The fear of payback and the at times rocky relations many blacks and Latinos have had with the LAPD are understandable. But that doesn't justify their silence when they witness a crime and can provide information about it. Blacks and Latinos in South L.A. have more to lose than any other group when they turn a blind eye to homicide.

Just ask Marcia Holmes.