LAPD GUTS SPECIAL UNITS TO GET MORE COPS ON THE STREET IN CRIME-FIGHTING GAMBLE.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Staff Writer

In a high-risk strategy, the LAPD plans to dismantle at least six specialized crime-fighting units in the San Fernando Valley and others citywide to get more officers into patrol cars, officials said Thursday.

Faced with a sudden rise in crime and competing demands for officers, Los Angeles Police Department officials in each division have come up with a variety of plans to boost the dwindling number of officers available for patrol duty to respond to radio calls and provide a visible deterrent to crime on the street.

Deputy Chief Michael Bostic, commander of the Valley Bureau, said that on Dec. 17, he will eliminate or cut back units targeting violent criminals, sex offenders and auto theft, among others, to free up 115 officers for patrol.

``The hope is to return a better level of service to patrol,'' said Bostic. ``I think it's a good move because our primary responsibility is our patrol force.''

Citywide, figures for how many additional officers would hit the streets were not available because other deputy chiefs were still mapping out their plans, said LAPD spokesman Sgt. John Pasquariello.

``Everybody has to tighten the belt,'' he said. ``The chief has mandated that every entity has to look at their organization and units and decide where people can be returned to patrol.''

The shifting of resources has become necessary because of the LAPD's problems in recruiting, the massive increase in Internal Affairs staffing due to the federal court consent decree growing out of the Rampart scandal and the political decision to revive the senior lead officer program.

Dismantling the various specialized crime units comes with significant risks, according to officers involved in the programs.

Detective Robert Graybill, in charge of CECATS, the Valley's auto theft prevention unit, said turning over his function to a unit downtown could send auto crime soaring in the Valley, which has nearly half the city's dismantling yards.

``The Valley's really going to suffer,'' he said. ``The reason why we were formed in 1988 was because the city was so large.''

In the past five years, the unit has seen a 59 percent reduction in auto thefts and burglaries.

The Valley's COBRA unit, a criminal surveillance team that targets violent criminals, will also be eliminated, and REACT, which tracks sex offenders Valleywide, will be put in the hands of sex crimes detectives at each of the Valley's five divisions, Bostic said.

Other specialized units, such as bicycle details at each division, the Jeopardy program, which works with at-risk youths, and the career criminal unit will be cut by 50 percent in each division.

Some of these units have been in place for nearly 20 years and are effective in investigating violent crimes, Bostic said.

But, Bostic said, ``it's more important that we prevent crimes than investigate them.''

The specialized units have ``now become a luxury that we can't afford,'' he said.

The Valley's average response time to a call for help is at 8.5 minutes - a minute longer than last year - and the number of calls has increased by 25 percent in the Valley. Serious crime has risen 6.6 percent Valleywide so far this year.

The department is also facing 168 senior lead officers returning to their regular community policing assignments - the equivalent of one division's entire patrol force, Bostic noted.

And yet other officers are being shifted to the department's Internal Affairs unit in the wake of the Rampart scandal and the resulting federal consent decree.

Lt. Joseph Freia, in charge of the Commercial Auto Theft Section downtown, will now help handle the CECATS' responsibilities.

``It's going to increase our workload. We're just going to have to pay more attention to cases,'' Freia said. ``We just have to relook at the things we do and prioritize.''

Freia said he plans to improve communication and step up training between his dozen detectives and patrol officers to help solve cases.

But Graybill said the shift in resources will eliminate one of his unit's most successful efforts: using undercover officers during the holiday season to catch thieves who burglarize vehicles parked at shopping malls.

``We're not going to do that this year,'' he said. ``They've been doing a great job for so many years.''

Other officials said there is a dire need for more patrol officers.

``The department's in tough times where we have to make some tough decisions and this is definitely one of them. And it's sad that it has to happen,'' said Capt. Kenneth Garner of the LAPD's Foothill Division.

Garner's division will be losing what he calls an ``extremely effective'' Valleywide program based at his station called REACT, comprised of officers who monitor whether sex offenders are registered with the department.

``A lot of them can be sent back to prison for not registering. We'll have to find another way to accomplish that,'' Garner said.

However, the captain is looking forward to more officers being assigned to patrol.

``That's a good thing. That's definitely a positive move,'' he said.

Concern about LAPD performance has focused on the nearly 25 percent drop in arrests this year in the face of a reversal in the long-term drop in crime.

Rank-and-file officers said low morale and other internal problems have a lot to do with that trend.

``You can put 10,000 officers out there, but we don't want to work because of the system,'' said one patrol officer, who asked not to be identified out of fear of retaliation.

``The discipline system is the main reason why we can't help the public. You can give us all these bright COBRA and CECATS guys, but it's not going to help. It's career survival. We hide out for eight hours and lay low and go home.''