ILLICIT RAVES, PARTY HOUSES WORRY CITY.

Byline: Dan Laidman Staff Writer

The hills dividing the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles are dotted with a growing number of ``party houses'' that should be regulated, along with underground raves, officials said Monday.

Police and city officials have been meeting for months to consider ways to crack down on underground parties after several shootings in 2004 were linked to such events in South Los Angeles.

The council's Public Safety Committee on Monday called for those efforts to target house parties, as well. Such large-scale gatherings create neighborhood nuisances while illicitly enriching the hosts who charge admission, said Councilman Jack Weiss.

``They tend to make a lot of money and even more noise,'' he said.

As part of the latest effort, city officials are considering an ordinance that would establish a penalty for advertising illegal rave parties.

Many of the underground gatherings are advertised by fliers passed out at high schools, stores and malls, according to a motion introduced by Councilman Bernard Parks.

``LAPD detectives acknowledge that throughout the city there has been an escalation of assaults, shots fired and homicides at flier parties,'' reads the motion. ``Which they say attract a deadly combination of underage drinking and gangs to locations where there is usually no adult supervision and very little security.''

Public Safety Committee members encouraged the City Attorney's Office to continue to work with police and Building and Safety Department officials to find a way to address the parties.

The committee also considered a Los Angeles Police Department report that showed a 309 percent increase from 2003 to 2004 in the number of guns confiscated in the city.

LAPD Lt. Steven Nielsen said the spike is the result of the Gun Unit growing from five to 19 members in the past four years. In the past the unit has focused narrowly on inspecting gun stores.

``Now we're able to go out and actively seek gun-trafficking cases,'' he said.

The panel also considered a proposal by the city Personnel Department to increase incentive payments to $1,000 for city workers who recruit a new police officer. The bonus is currently $500.

The LAPD has money to hire 720 new officers this year but is concerned about finding enough qualified candidates in the face of stiff competition from other law enforcement agencies.

The richer bonuses could cost $25,000, officials said, and it would come out of $2 million the Personnel Department has set aside for police recruitment.

Dan Laidman, [phone]

dan.laidman(at)dailynews.com