Humphrey Park Area Residents Wrestle With Fears, Solutions

PACOIMA — For the neighbors of Hubert H. Humphrey Park, the first order of business Thursday was the most important: Sign a giant get-well card for a 9-year-old girl recovering from a bullet wound.

Next on the agenda was a discussion of how to end the sporadic bursts of gang- and drug-related violence that plague the area. The student at nearby Hillery T. Broadous Elementary School was hit in the back by a stray bullet Saturday night while watching TV with her father at home.

The bullet was fired by gang members who were shooting at each other from cars, police said. The girl, whose name was withheld, was discharged Wednesday from Childrens Hospital. She was visited at home Thursday by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division.

“She’s doing wonderful,” said Det. Kandi Schmidt. “She told me she’s in a lot of pain, and she’s scared they’ll come back. But she’s not having nightmares anymore.”

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Many residents who attended a community meeting Thursday at the park said they were worried about their safety, said Officer Ted Watson, who added that the shooting was among several recent violent incidents in the area.

“Those bullets almost never hit their intended target,” Watson said. “That’s what happened to that little girl. Anyone who lives in a neighborhood like that is going to be concerned.”

Residents focused Thursday on ways to prevent violence, recommending that the LAPD create a community outreach center at the park.

“We really need a police service center,” said William Bryant, 74, a longtime resident who said he has been advocating the idea for at least two years. “This [meeting] is a reactive thing, but we need a proactive thing.”

After the meeting, City Councilman Alex Padilla said he would take the request for a police outreach center to Mayor Richard Riordan. He also said he would push to make Humphrey Park--which residents say is a hub of gang activity at night and on weekends--the “No. 1 test case” for Operation Clean Neighborhoods, a $14-million initiative introduced by Riordan last month to clean up troubled parks, introduce youth programs and revamp community policing efforts.

Padilla said he has asked the LAPD and the Recreation and Parks Department to study how the new program will “address the gang and other violent activities” near city parks.

“There are a lot of questions left as to what exactly [the program] means,” Padilla said Thursday. “We want to talk not just about cleaning parks, but about more programs, more ways to help community members.”

Rebecca Villegas, who works at the park’s child care center, grew up in the neighborhood and said she is surprised so few programs exist for teenagers.

“For 20 years, there hasn’t been anything for anybody of that age,” she said. “Kids in this neighborhood grow up together--I mean your blacks and your Hispanics--and they all get along until the ninth or 10th grade. That’s when the drugs insert themselves. Then, suddenly, they can’t stand each other and start killing each other.”

Police said they will beef up their patrols in the neighborhood, and Watson--the LAPD’s senior lead officer for the area--pointed to another positive development, the recently announced plan to restore lead officers as community liaisons.

These days, Watson said, “I can meet with the community, but the bottom line is, I’m responding to radio calls.”

Once he is freed from this responsibility, he said, “I can spend more time responding to [residents’] needs directly, as opposed to doing it over the phone.”

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Opening a police outreach center may not be easy, city and police officials said. Although substations were a staple under former Chief Willie L. Williams--there were 125 in 1997--the LAPD has scaled back to 73. The Foothill Division has no substations, but Capt. Kenneth Garner said he is considering installing senior lead officers in municipal buildings in Pacoima and Tujunga to give neighbors better access to the force.

Garner said he has not had time to seriously consider the Humprhrey Park proposal.

“Overall, Humphrey Park has been fairly quiet, but any time we can have a presence in a spot, that’s a good thing,” Garner said. “Whether we have the officers to put in that spot is another question.”

Many residents said an increased police presence near the park would be a smart step.

“I see a lot of police, but there can always be more vigilance,” said Juan Contreras, 27, who shot hoops in the park Thursday morning with his family. “But in every neighborhood, there’s going to be good and bad.”

This week, the City Council offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the shooters’ arrests. No arrests have been made, and a police investigation is ongoing.

“We’ve got some pretty good leads,” Garner said. “It’s our highest priority case right now.”

Police are asking people with information to call Foothill detectives at (818) 897-6970.