RESIDENTS MARCH TO TAKE BACK STREETS IN SUN VALLEY AREA.

Byline: Mary Beth Alexander Daily News Staff Writer

Agreeing drug dealers are the scourge of their neighborhood, Vickie Aguilar and Joanne Edwards joined a host of fellow residents Tuesday night to take action.

They met at neighbor Paul Bobek's house in the 11100 block of Cantlay Street, where they feasted with about 50 other neighbors on a potluck dinner in the front yard. Then at dusk, they set out with flashlights on a two-mile march to take back their neighborhood.

``We do this to tell the kids who are causing problems in the neighborhood that they're not going to get away with it,'' Aguilar said. ``We're not going to stand for it.''

The Cantlay Street event was one of many across the city and nation Tuesday night to commemorate the 13th annual National Night Out, a pro-neighborhood, anti-crime movement.

Across the country, thousands of people were expected to participate by turning on their outside lights, talking with neighbors or joining flashlight marches to heighten awareness about neighborhood watch and show solidarity against criminals.

This year was the 10th year that Bobek has hosted National Night Out for the Neighborhood Watch area bordered by Saticoy Street on the north, Sherman Way on the south, Tujunga Avenue on the west and Vineland Avenue on the east.

Bobek, who has lived in the neighborhood more than 40 years, said the march is among many of his Neighborhood Watch's crime-fighting efforts, and sends a powerful message to wrongdoers in the area.

``I've seen this neighborhood decay,'' Bobek said. ``When you get 200 to 300 people walking down the street telling the drug dealers to pack up and move, they've got to do some thinking.''

Among the Cantlay gatherers was City Councilman Richard Alarcon, whose district includes the southeast Sun Valley neighborhood, and several Los Angeles Police Department officers.

Alarcon congratulated the members of the Neighborhood Watch and nonmembers who joined them for their perseverance and determination.

``Community means people getting involved,'' Alarcon said. ``You can't solve problems in your community without getting involved.''

Senior Lead Officer Larry Taylor, of the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Station, said crime has dropped in the area thanks to residents who report suspicious cars in the neighborhood, participate in graffiti and trash removal and generally keep a careful eye on each other.

``They're not afraid to get involved,'' said Taylor, whose duties include acting as a liaison between the department and the Neighborhood Watch groups.

``It is an unusually active group. They get involved in a lot of things.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1) A police unit escorts locals Tuesday night as they take a two-mile walk to crackdown on crime in their Sun Valley neighborhood.

(2) Neighbors enjoy a dinner at a block party as part of a National Night Out event.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News