WALKING SKID ROW SPECIAL PATROLS TO CONTINUE.

Byline: SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writer

More than 50 police officers fanned out on foot and bicycles through Los Angeles' Skid Row district on Sunday as part of a plan to weed out gangs and drug dealers who prey on the homeless.

Chief William Bratton said in a morning news conference that specially trained Los Angeles Police Department officers will abide by a court ruling that forbids police from arresting the homeless for sleeping on the street, but instead will focus on drug arrests.

``The condition of being homeless in and of itself is not a crime,'' Bratton said. ``Los Angeles police officers will focus their activities on behavior, not the condition of being homeless.''

Three arrests were made in a special patrol Sunday, one of a series planned in the Safer City Initiative.

Cleaning up Skid Row has been a priority for Bratton since he became PD chief in 2002. In a press conference last week, he called the area the nation's biggest open-air drug market, and he said it would take all county and city agencies to solve the problem.

But his goal has faced legal obstacles stemming from a 2003 American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against him and the LAPD for arresting homeless residents camped on downtown sidewalks.

The ACLU's lawsuit was upheld this year by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

To expedite his goal of cleaning up Skid Row, Bratton had hoped the City Council would back his proposed compromise with the ACLU, which would have allowed the homeless to sleep on sidewalks at night, when businesses are closed and there are fewer pedestrians.

But the City Council voted against his plan last week and instead decided to seek U. S. Supreme Court intervention. But Bratton said the LAPD will not wait for a court outcome before continuing to go after gangs and drug dealers who sell narcotics to the homeless.

Near Maple and Los Angeles streets, officers walked down sidewalks littered with chicken bones, paper plates and discarded clothes and approached men and women sleeping inside tents or on cardboard.

``I'm not here to arrest you,'' Officer Kent Rodriguez said to a sleepy man. ``I'd rather help you get something to eat and get a bed.''

Dozens of members of the Los Angeles Community Action Network protested the extra police presence, saying the cost of those 50 additional officers could have funded 75 more beds for the homeless.

``There is a drug element down here, but the solution is that we have to help people find permanent homes,'' said protester Steve Diaz. ``Our group's census takers found that there are four extra beds a night in shelters, and there are 7,500 homeless people a night.''

But Don Garza, a resident of one of the single-room occupancy hotels, was supportive of the LAPD's efforts.

``My neighbors are dying down here,'' he said. ``There's drug dealers on every corner. It's like a killing machine. People come in and die, and then more people come in.''

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Police Officers Dee Braxton, left, and Kent Rodriguez walk Winston Street in a special patrol to look for drug dealers and others who prey on the homeless. The police chief said Sunday that such patrols will continue, but nobody will be arrested for being homeless and sleeping on the street.

(2) LAPD Officer Brian Frieson detains a suspect on Skid Row. Police then determined the man was not violating the law and released him.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer