LAPD TO PATROL PROJECT SITES FUNDS RUN OUT FOR HOUSING AUTHORITY'S FORCE.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew and Jason Kandell Staff Writers

PACOIMA - When the last city Housing Authority cop surrenders his badge this spring, the understaffed LAPD will step in to guard 15 gang-ridden housing projects.

To offset the officer shortage, police and housing officials are studying ways to beef up patrols - by either installing more fences, locked gates, surveillance cameras and private security guards or assigning special Los Angeles Police Department officers to such projects as San Fernando Gardens in Pacoima.

``Our goal is to make the Housing Authority property the safest in the city,'' said Donald Smith, executive director of the Housing Authority of City of Los Angeles.

``We're going to take it up a notch and restructure our security approach, using private contractors and private surveillance cameras,'' he said. ``We'll be working really closely with the LAPD.''

The Housing Authority opted to disband its 45-year-old police force last year after failing to win city or other grants to cover a $6 million deficit in federal funding.

Rising costs and pressure from federal housing officials have caused all but six of the nation's 3,400 housing authorities to switch the burden of patrol to local law enforcement agencies.

Los Angeles police said they lament the loss of the remaining 30 sworn housing police officers - down from 71 in 1999.

``This is like rowing a ship,'' said Cmdr. Michel Moore of the Los Angeles Police Department. ``We need every oar. If we lose them, yeah, that'll make a difference, but we'll pick it up - we have to pick it up.''

Moore said San Fernando Gardens and other projects are each guarded by a senior lead officer and more patrols than in surrounding areas.

Smith of the Housing Authority said the LAPD now provides 95 percent of Housing Authority security.

Smith said he is working on a security plan for review by Housing Authority commissioners in April that will include the private-contractor option.

Chief William Bratton has submitted a Housing Authority security plan to the Mayor's Office that proposes ``enhanced physical security,'' better collaboration with housing development communities, armed and unarmed security guards and a special LAPD projects police force.

``We're looking at the ultimate security model,'' said Assistant Deputy Mayor Sarah Dusseault, who is in charge of housing. ``We haven't decided at a city level whether that will entail a (special) police force.''

But some people worry that without the aid of community-based Housing Authority police, the projects will be controlled by gangsters - some of whom were raised in the projects and act as mentors for local children.

Housing Authority police now pair up for each project, four days a week, nearly seven hours a day.

``We're talking about who will police the residents, because the LAPD cannot fill that void,'' said Sgt. George Holt, president of the Supervisory Peace Officers Association and a Housing Authority cop for nearly 14 years.

``Without us, there'd be nobody to address an open-air drug market.''

Officers Robert Barnes and Conrad Adame of the Housing Authority Peace Officers Association agreed.

``The effect of not having us in the community will be devastating,'' said Barnes.

City Councilman Dennis Zine, a Los Angeles reserve officer, called the HACLA cut a ``sneak play'' that would increase crime.