GUNS FOR PARK RANGERS REJECTED.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Despite concern that some Los Angeles parks are overrun by violent criminals, the City Council on Tuesday shot down a proposal to arm park rangers with guns.

Nine council members opposed a proposal to begin the process of training rangers so they could carry guns, saying it would lead to shootings by rangers and increased liability for the city. Only five members supported the idea.

``We have not been sued once for park rangers shooting someone,'' Councilman Nate Holden said in arguing against arming rangers.

Instead, the council approved an agreement between the Los Angeles Police Department and Recreation and Parks Department to form a Safe Park Coordination Team at each police station to have rangers and officers work together on ridding parks of crime.

``Clearly there are parks throughout our city that have been overrun by gang activity, drug sales and other public safety problems,'' said Councilwoman Laura Chick.

Chick noted that Police Chief Bernard C. Parks has pledged to work with the rangers to improve park safety. ``We're going to hold the chief and department accountable for that commitment,'' she said.

Council members Richard Alarcon, Hal Bernson, Rudy Svorinich Jr., Richard Alatorre and John Ferraro supported the alternative plan after they failed to win approval of the motion to arm rangers.

``We have a situation where the parks are not safe,'' Bernson said. ``They are not safe for our citizens, for our kids and they are particularly not safe for the officers that have the duty of keeping peace.''

Bernson charged that some of his colleagues have a ``phobia'' about guns and warned, ``If we throw our guns away, the only ones that are going to have guns are going to be the criminals and those that are going to oppress us.''

Chick, who chairs the council's Public Safety Committee, said closer cooperation between the police and rangers and providing more radios and better equipment is a preferable way to address the crime problem in parks.

``This is certainly not about a phobia to guns,'' Chick said. ``What it is about is a real solution to a complex problem.''

Although some of the 54 park rangers patrolling the city's 375 parks have been shot at and threatened, Chief Ranger Hector Hernandez said no ranger has been killed and he joined Parks in opposing the arming of rangers, saying armed police officers can be called for backup if necessary.