CRIME PROGRAM HEADING FOR LAKE LOS ANGELES; DEPUTIES TO CANVASS RESIDENTS DOOR-TO-DOOR ON CONCERNS.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer

After a successful campaign in Quartz Hill, deputies on Saturday will go door-to-door in Lake Los Angeles, surveying residents about crime and nuisance problems.

The poll of residents who live between avenues N and P and between 165th and 175th streets will be conducted by officials from the sheriff's High Impact Community Oriented Policing and Services program.

``I'm hoping to have as much success as we did in Quartz Hill,'' said Lt. Terry Lewis. ``We had 19 missions that resulted from our surveys and we accomplished every one of them.''

To kick off their Lake Los Angeles program, officials have scheduled a community meeting for 10 a.m. Saturday at Vista San Gabriel School, 180th Street East and Avenue O.

Los Angeles County sheriff's officials will introduce the eight-deputy team and discuss the crime-fighting program, which is designed to quickly reduce local crime by working with residents. Deputies will demonstrate how to report crimes, resurrect Neighborhood Watch groups and police neighborhoods.

``I think it's going to raise awareness and increase community involvement,'' said Shirley Harriman, a member of the Lake Los Angeles Rural Town Council. ``I want to see some of the problems that have existed here be eliminated.''

Harriman, one of several council members who will help deputies with the surveys, said she hopes the program can tackle backyard junkyards and abandoned houses.

``This is something that we really need,'' Harriman said. ``It's already been well received by the community.''

During their Quartz Hill operation, deputies surveyed nearly 1,000 residents, who listed narcotics, gangs and juveniles as their main concerns for neighborhood crime; stray dogs and graffiti were cited as the primary nuisances.

``You're dealing with a completely different community here,'' Lewis said of Lake Los Angeles. ``I'm interested to see what the concerns of the residents are.

``It's going to interesting to see the similarities and differences,'' Lewis said. ``This community is a lot more residential.''

The COPS program began as part of President Clinton's promise to put more law enforcement officials on the nation's streets with the passage of the Federal Crime Bill.

In October 1995, the COPS program assigned four deputies to patrol unincorporated areas of the Antelope Valley as the County Crime Task Force.

The next stop will be to rotate eight-deputy teams, supervised by a sergeant, through six different communities through May 1999. Quartz Hill and Lake Los Angeles are the first two.

During their time in Quartz Hill, sheriff's deputies made 160 arrests and issued 300 citations. They also worked with other county agencies to repaint crosswalks, board up vacant houses, clean streets and install additional stop signs.

``It was a successful three months,'' Lewis said. ``We did what we intended.''