SURVEY BACKS POLICE CHIEF'S RESTRUCTURING; ENHANCING OFFICER PRESENCE IN PUBLIC DEEMED IMPORTANT.

Byline: Phillip W. Browne Staff Writer

Supporting Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks' controversial decision to move senior lead officers to patrol, a USC survey released Tuesday found residents feel safer when they see more officers and interact with them more often.

The two-year survey also found only a third of west San Fernando Valley residents feared crime, compared with more than two-thirds of residents living in the Southeast and Hollenbeck divisions.

The survey of perceptions of crime and Los Angeles police service was presented to the Los Angeles Police Commission. Members said the finding underscores the need to focus more on local crime, develop new community-police partnerships and to find ways for officers to informally contact residents.

``We may not be doing the best job we could in terms of relations with people,'' Commission President Gerald L. Chaleff said after reviewing the report. ``This report will give us new ideas about addressing public needs.''

Parks said community policing remains a major priority.

``It has become very clear that officers who work the communities are the people residents want to deal with, not someone from downtown,'' Parks said.

But he added that many residents only have contact with officers when they dial 911 or call their area divisions.

``In my opinion officers that take these calls and make these contacts play a major role with the community as well,'' Parks said. ``The people who have these contacts are the citizens who go to court and testify and have a partnership with the criminal justice system. We cannot overlook the importance of these contacts.''

The report comes at a time when Parks is under fire for his decision to phase out the assignment of specific senior lead officers to neighborhoods to deal with community complaints and act as neighborhood liaisons.

Parks has defended his decision, saying the LAPD has improved its relations with the community, is more reflective of the people it serves and more effective in policing. Crime continues to drop, arrests have doubled since 1996 and use-of-force incidents have dropped since 1994, Parks said.

Parks has said the 168 senior lead officers will be more effective on patrol and in training new officers, providing a greater level of service to residents.

The University of Southern California researchers, led by Cheryl Maxson and funded by a U.S. Department of Justice grant, sent lengthy crime surveys to residents living in the LAPD's West Valley, Southeast, Pacific and Hollenbeck divisions. They got 1,405 responses.

``This gave us a base-line community attitude on the perceptions of crime and police services in Los Angeles,'' Maxson said.

Their major findings include:

Hollenbeck and Southeast divisions said their major concerns were gangs and drugs, while West Valley and Pacific divisions cited that they were concerned with property and traffic crimes.

Thirty-two percent of residents in the West Valley said they are fearful of crime, compared with 33 percent in the Pacific Division, 62 percent in Hollenbeck and 70 percent in Southeast.

Residents whose perception of police comes from the media or by dealing with officers during a crime or other problem have a less favorable attitude toward police than those who have informal contact with officers.

Residents in the four areas surveyed cited a need for more police or more police visibility as among their top concerns.