Frustrated Parents Boo Police and School Officials at Community Meeting

By Susan Reines
Staff Writer

October 6 -- Parents upset by the third gun-related incident near Edison School in less than a year voiced their frustrations with boos and calls for the police chief’s resignation, after officials cut a public hearing short and offered few concrete promises during a meeting Monday evening to discuss violence in the Pico Neighborhood.

Others applauded, however, when the Superintendent John Deasy and Police Chief James T. Butts Jr. offered solemn promises to do everything in their power to protect students and prevent incidents like the driveby shooting last Tuesday that spurred the meeting.

Photo by Susan Reines

The incident -- which galvanized the several hundred parents in attendance -- involved suspected Los Angeles gang members in a car who chased down a victim riding a bike, yelled what police believe was a Santa Monica gang name and fired 14 rounds across the street from the elementary school at around 4:30 p.m. No one was struck by the bullets, but the victim injured his lip when he fell trying to escape.

The PTA called for a permanent police presence at the school, a wall around the chain link fence that currently encloses the playground along Virgina Avenue and police guarding the entrance to the school, which is near the 10 Freeway. Neighbors say gang members from other towns use as an escape route after committing drive-by shootings.

Superintendent John Deasy and Police Chief Butts promised to bolster communication with parents. Deasy also said he would investigate installing the playground wall and that he would install "crash bars" on the school's gates after reviewing the applicable State codes.

“We believe (installing crash bars on gates) is absolutely an appropriate thing to do," Deasy said, adding that he believed the district’s insurance would pay for the construction. "We have contacted a number of school safety specialists.”

The officials, however, shied away from the suggestion to add a police presence, saying an armed officer constantly guarding the school would only induce fear. Temporary patrols and lock-down of all but one entrance to the school have been implemented in the wake of the shooting.

“I do not personally think that an armed police officer on an elementary campus is an appropriate use of police,” Deasy said. The superintendent cited studies that showed students became more fearful about going to school when an armed officer was patrolling -- and even more fearful if that officer had to be removed.

City Manager Susan McCarthy added that police are “the most expensive resources we have to deploy,” so the City has to ensure that police are used as efficiently as possible in the crime-ridden Pico Neighborhood, an area where police are already concentrated.

Edison PTA Co-president Griselda de la Torre-Garces reads a list of demands. (Photo by Frank Gruber)

The officials did not reject parents’ suggestions to place a decoy police car outside the school, although Butts noted that a car constantly parked in the same place would fail to fool people.

Officials did not address parents’ repeated suggestions to guard the freeway entrance except to say the City was already spending $2,400 dollars per day for special police deployments in the neighborhood.

But parents from Edison’s Parent Teacher Association said police protection at the school was their number one priority.

“We’re just going to keep asking and asking and asking until we get some action on that,” PTA Co-President Griselda de la Torre-Garces said.

Fear and frustration seemed to be the overwhelming sentiments from parents and neighbors, who spoke for about an hour until officials told them public comment was supposed to be limited to 45 minutes and those who hadn’t spoken would have to submit their comments in writing.

“Somebody could have been killed. Fourteen bullets” said a parent who identified herself as Rosie. “What happened (no one being hit) was a miracle, and we’ve got to take an opportunity to use that miracle and take direction, as we are doing here tonight.”

Another parent spoke of her daughter asking whether it was safe to go to Edison. “She asked me, ‘Am I safe, Mommy, there?’” the parent said. “She doesn’t feel safe and I don’t feel safe.”

The room erupted when Deasy and Butts’ responses to the parents’ testimony consisted only of offers to keep information flowing to parents and general promises to protect student.

“I will not let you down as far as protecting your children --” Butts said. The rest of his sentence was lost is cries of “You already have.”

“We think it’s important that the community hear back from us as to what has happened,” Deasy said, offering to hold a follow-up meeting in January. He said the experience of consoling the frightened Edison students had made the problem of Pico Neighborhood violence “intensely present in front of my face.”

Deasy agreed to attend next month’s Edison PTA meeting after parents pressed the officials to commit. Butts said he would have to check his calendar.