FRIGHT, NARCOTICS RETURN TO AREA.

Byline: Luz Villarreal Daily News Staff Writer

Maria Petra Alva won't let her children walk to school or the neighborhood park.

Even her fenced front yard feels unsafe for play.

``There are too many gang members and drug dealers around,'' said Alva, a 40-year-old mother of four. ``They throw bottles in the street. They do drugs in front of the kids. My kids are scared.''

It wasn't so bad nine months ago, Alva said.

That was when the city celebrated the community's efforts to take back their streets by removing 5-year-old road barricades surrounding the 12-block area between Nordhoff and Parthenia streets and Sepulveda and Noble avenues.

The barricades were installed to help reduce drive-through drug dealing.

The barricades worked for a while, police and residents said, but then the dealers learned to hawk their trade around them. Some dealers even used the barricades to shield themselves from police.

In place of barriers, the community raised vigilance. Neighborhood Watch and Business Watch groups were organized. The North Hills Residents Coalition was formed. And police boosted enforcement.

To some degree, the efforts worked. But residents say the drug activity is back stronger than ever, and gunshots are heard almost nightly.

``If we don't get something done soon, it is going to be worse,'' said Jo Anne Wilkinson, who has lived in the area 17 years. ``It will be horrendous by Christmas. For all the money we get poured in here for police officers, you would think it would clear out a couple of streets, but it hasn't even made a dent.''

The Los Angeles Police Department is hard pressed for answers.

Drug-related arrests have increased, but overall crime is actually down 13.7 percent in the neighborhood compared to this time last year.

``We've had a continued presence out there,'' said LAPD Capt. Vance Proctor of the Devonshire Division. ``We all recognize that it is a problem area and that it is one of the most severe in the San Fernando Valley, probably in the city of L.A.''

Rob Holcomb, a narcotics detective for the LAPD, said he is seeing more dealers and buyers in the area.

``The dope dealers know there are only so many of us,'' he said. ``You have a very large number of dealers, and the word is on the street that that is the place to go.

``We need more patrols in that area and more participation by apartment owners and citizens,'' he said. ``The quality of life for the people living in that area has gone down.''

In June, apartment manager Karin Marquez said she was punched in the eye by a stranger.

Somebody fired five bullets into her parked car earlier this month. She believes these are acts of retaliation for evicting problem tenants and running dealers off her properties.

``It's not that we are not getting cooperation from the Police Department,'' she said. ``The police activity has increased, too. They have a hard job. I think if more people would say something, take a stand. . . . We need more residents involved.''

Alva agreed more residents need to unite. At the moment, however, she can think only about protecting her children and shielding them from stray bullets.

She drives her daughters, 9 and 13, to and from school. She keeps her sons, 2 and 4, at home with her. When she picks up her husband from his workplace, the whole family makes the ride together because Alva doesn't want to leave any of her children home without her.

``Strangers knock on our door and want to sell us stolen phones and car stereos. They ask to use our restroom,'' Alva said.

``It wasn't this way. Now, at night, there are so many people out on the street,'' she said. ``They don't let us sleep. We drop to the floor from our beds when we hear the gunshots.''

Wilkinson wants banners posted around the community identifying the neighborhood as a ``Video Zone.'' Other neighborhoods have tried to deter drug activity by installing hidden video cameras.

The banners would say ``Buy Drugs, Go to Jail'' or ``You are in a Video Zone.''

Harry Coleman, president of North Hills Coordinating Council, said he would support banners as a temporary measure. He also said more police are needed on a regular basis.

``Do we have enough resources? Absolutely not,'' he said. ``The Valley isn't getting its fair share. We need more police officers, more narcotics teams and a maintenance program (that) puts these police cars that patrol in there 24 hours a day.''

City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents this district, said more police are needed, but he has mixed feelings about posting banners.

``With banners, you are indicating to future tenants that this is a drug haven and then deterring the kind of tenants you want to attract,'' he said. ``The bigger statement needs to be there is no simple solution to drugs in our community. There has to be a constant, dynamic effort in place.''

Drug and gang activity is also on the rise in nearby communities and at Sepulveda Park in Panorama City.

Parents like Alva are scared to send their children to Sepulveda Park although it is within walking distance from their North Hills neighborhood. Last week, a group of parents and children marched around the park to denounce gang members and drug dealers.

``It looks like we're going back and forth,'' said Paula Rangel, a community activist who manages an apartment complex between the park and the formerly barricaded neighborhood in North Hills.

``I'm very angry. I feel helpless. Where are the drug dealers coming from? We are seeing new faces. You know they are new when they don't recognize the residents and try to sell us drugs,'' said Rangel, a member of new coalition that organized the march at the park. ``I feel like we can't advance. Resources are needed in this area.''

Other efforts are also being pumped into the park.

Civic leaders, merchants, residents and police officers have grouped together under the name Community Policing PTroblem Solving Team. Their first project is Sepulveda Park.

The 60-member organization hopes to promote the park and recruit businesses to sponsor positive public events there.

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Photo

Photo: With drug activity returning to North Hills, residen t Maria Petra Alva fears for the lives of her children, Mythe, 13, Arianna, 8, Jose Luis, 3, and Rodrigo, 2.

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News