LAPD SHIFT FIRMLY FOUGHT BUSINESS LEADERS CRITICAL OF PLAN TO BOLSTER PATROLS.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Staff Writer

A planned shift of officers from specialized units to street patrol has prompted many in the business community to protest to city officials, saying the reassignment will actually make the crime problem worse.

Company representatives objecting to the plan include those from the Southwest Division of 7-Eleven convenience stores, Miller Honda in Van Nuys and AT Systems, formerly Armored Transport.

The 7-Eleven stores rely heavily on the work of the Covert Operations to Battle Recidivist Activities unit, which conducts criminal surveillance on career criminals, to capture violent robbers hitting some of the 100 stores in the Valley.

``In this economy where we have rising crime, it just doesn't make sense to discontinue a unit that has had an exceptional record in arresting these bad offenders,'' said John Ragsdale, a loss prevention manager for 7-Eleven.

Among the cases COBRA has recently solved for him is the vicious ``Splasher Bandit,'' who robbed about six 7-Eleven stores in the Valley after throwing a cup of hot coffee in clerks' faces.

Los Angeles police officials said dismantling the units is necessary to combat rising crime and a shortage of about 900 officers whose job is to respond to radio calls and provide a visible deterrent to crime on the street.

``It's a bit of a 'Sophie's Choice' because the specialized units are very important. On the other hand, we must meet our daily responsibility for patrol and respond to 911 calls,'' said Raquelle de la Rocha, vice president of the Los Angeles Police Commission.

Police commissioners have heard objections from more than a dozen concerned residents and business owners about the cutbacks.

And detectives from various Valley divisions who lean on the officers from specialized units for undercover work are also disenchanted.

``It very negatively affects our unit. We utilize their services and we're going to take a hit with their loss,'' said LAPD Detective Rick Swanston, who heads the homicide unit at West Valley Division.

Cutting deeper

Among the other units to be cut are Community Enforcement Combating Auto Theft; Registration, Enforcement, Apprehension and Compliance Team, which tracks sex offenders Valleywide; bicycle details at each division; the Jeopardy program, which works with at-risk youths; and career criminal units, which will be cut by 50 percent in each division.

In some cases, units will be eliminated, while in others, detectives from each division or downtown will now pick up the extra work, said Deputy Chief Michael Bostic, commander of the Valley Bureau.

The changes will officially occur Dec. 17. Bostic maintains that the cutbacks will free up 115 officers for patrol in the Valley.

Similar actions will take place citywide, however, figures were not available Friday as deputy chiefs elsewhere were still mapping out their plans, said LAPD spokesman Sgt. John Pasquariello.

The changes are also needed in light of a massive increase in Internal Affairs staffing due to the federal court consent decree resulting from the Rampart Division scandal and the political decision to revive the senior lead officer program.

``The hope is to return a better level of service to patrol,'' Bostic said.

But others, including officers who work specialized units, argue that their training took years to learn and that other detectives are backlogged with cases of their own - the very reason why some of the special units were created in the Valley.

``The whole purpose of this unit is because patrol didn't have the expertise and citizens weren't getting the service,'' said one officer in a specialized Valley unit.

Geoffrey Barber, a used-car sales manager at Miller Honda in Van Nuys, regularly calls upon CECATS.

Just over a month ago, officers there sat patiently on a lot until their thief showed up to continue his two-month spree of burglarizing 30 cars of radios, lights, spoilers and other special equipment, Barber said.

``The common refrain from people is that they want police out there stopping real crime. Now, they're going to put them out on the street to write speeding tickets. That doesn't make any sense to me,'' Barber said.

John Cassotta Sr., the senior vice president of AT Systems, agrees. He frequently calls upon COBRA officers for help in solving robberies.

``We could always make one phone call and they'd jump in to help,'' he said. ``It would be a crime to dismantle a group of specialized police officers.''

Proactive moves

Police officials argued that proactive crime-fighting will not cease.

``There's still going to be crime-fighting going on,'' Pasquariello said. ``Our priority is that all the citizens get adequate police service.''

In a Dec. 1 letter to Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and City Council members, Ragsdale urged them to reverse their decision.

``It would be most counterproductive in the effort to reduce major crimes to discontinue the (COBRA unit). The minimal increase to the patrol ranks would far be outweighed by the loss of this most capable and productive unit.''

Just two weeks ago, COBRA officers were zeroing in on a ``three strikes, you're out'' gangster suspected of shooting a 2-month-old baby in the Valley, but were taken off the case to finish paperwork before being dismantled, officers said.

``We may have followed him. Now, it's not going to happen,'' one officer in the unit said, declining to give a name in fear of retaliation.