RAMPART AFTERMATH CONCERNS RESIDENTS INCREASE IN CRIME PREVENTION SOUGHT.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

Complaining that gangs have grown more brazen and aggressive in the troubled Rampart Division, community leaders and residents demanded Friday that city officials act decisively to prevent crime from soaring back to the record levels of eight years ago.

``The community is very supportive of the police,'' said the Rev. John Bakas, dean of St. Sophia Cathedral, noting many residents worry that gang activity has escalated since the Rampart police corruption scandal began.

``There is a perception that since . . . the police have been put on the defensive, that the gangs are taking greater liberties,'' he said.

Calling themselves the Coalition to Reduce Crime in Rampart, about 50 Rampart-area residents met Thursday night with Police Chief Bernard Parks, City Councilman Mike Hernandez and Deputy Mayor Kelly Martin to voice their concerns and demand action.

``They want to continue to keep crime down,'' Martin said. ``They see graffiti coming back and gang members hanging on the street, and they are afraid of crime coming back.''

Martin said members of the coalition asked not to be identified and wanted to work behind the scenes with the police department.

The Rampart Division has been the source of one of the worst scandals in LAPD history, with accusations that members of the now-disbanded anti-gang CRASH unit routinely assaulted gang members, planted evidence and lied in court to win convictions.

As part of the fallout from the scandal, the city was forced to lift its anti-gang injunction that prohibited gang members from loitering and gave police broad powers to control their activities.

LAPD Capt. Bob Hansohn, the commanding officer at Rampart, however, said he feels the problems go beyond what the police can do alone.

``To be honest, I was a little disappointed that the only department head attending the meeting was Chief Parks,'' Hansohn said. ``He might be the busiest executive we have in the city, and he made time to be here. Where were the others?''

Specifically, Hansohn said he believed the Recreation and Parks Department, Public Works, schools and others need to be involved in keeping crime down.

``We've had some increase, but I'm afraid we might be seeing a bounce everywhere,'' Hansohn said.

``We have a very large population of people between 13 and 18, and that's traditionally when crime goes up. These kids need things to do, and the police department can't do everything.''

Hansohn also said he was not as concerned about the lack of the gang injunction.

``The injunction only affected about 80 gang members, and we have thousands who live in Rampart,'' he said, adding the controversy over the CRASH unit might have emboldened some gang members.

``They think that we aren't going to do anything now,'' he said. ``If that's what they're thinking, they'll soon find out that's not the case.''

Martin said other meetings with the group are being scheduled to address specific concerns and to try to bring in other city agencies.

Staff Writer Alexa Haussler contributed to this report.