An Even Stronger Police Presence in the Neighborhood

Two years ago, Anaheim Police Det. Danny Allen received a $10,000 down payment from a municipal housing program that helps officers buy homes. The catch? The house had to be in Anaheim.

Allen gladly accepted the offer, trading a daily commute of 71 miles round-trip from Riverside for a 10-minute cross-town drive.

Moving into the city he protects was like sporting a new pair of glasses.

“When you live in the city and have a house in the city, you really look at things differently than when you’re commuting,” he said. “You’re more concerned about the quality of life in the city. You have a personal interest in the city and how the city does.”

That is exactly the result state lawmakers are seeking as they consider Senate Bill 257, a proposal that would provide financial incentives for cops to buy homes in redevelopment districts with high crime rates in a dozen of the state’s more urban counties, including Orange.

Officials in two cities here--Costa Mesa and Orange--have proclaimed support for the legislation.

“It brings kind of a city pride of homeownership to our city,” Costa Mesa Councilman Gary Monahan said. “A down payment is one of the hardest things to get, and this gets them there.”

The statewide program would differ from Anaheim’s by limiting officers to redevelopment districts. But the intent is similar.

Under the new bill, police would receive a down payment of up to 20% of the purchase price of a home in designated redevelopment zones with crimes rates at least 110% of the citywide average.

In return, personnel would have to live in the houses for at least 10 years. If the owner moved before then, he or she would have to repay a prorated share of the subsidy.

“The incentive behind this bill is to encourage law enforcement officers to live in redevelopment areas, which tend to be blighted areas,” said Terry Reardon, a spokesman for state Sen. Jim Costa (D-Fresno), a bill backer.

Funding would come exclusively from municipal redevelopment agencies, which in Orange County typically are made up of city councils. The program would last through 2003.

Under current law, agencies must put 20% of their funds into low- and moderate-income housing programs, said Peter M. Detwiler, a staff consultant for Sen. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), author of the bill. In Orange County, a moderate-income person is defined as someone earning $35,400 to $53,100, according to state figures.

“We’re not talking about poor people, we’re talking about cops, teachers, working people,” Detwiler said.

Just moving a police officer into a high-crime neighborhood is not enough to revamp it, Lee said, so the law would not be “a panacea to crime.”

That’s why she focused the legislation on redevelopment districts. “It’s [the city] putting money where its policies are,” Detwiler said.

The Senate has already passed the bill on a 38-0 vote. An Assembly committee is set to review the legislation Thursday. No legislator has expressed dissent, Detwiler said.

Since the Anaheim program started in July 1995, 27 officers have bought homes in the city, some coming from as far away as San Diego and others moving from rental houses in Anaheim.

“That 10,000 bucks makes all the difference in the world,” said Officer Bruce Bottolfson, president of the Anaheim Police Officers Assn. “The whole point of that was to get them in town. If there’s an earthquake or an emergency, they’re in town.”

Anaheim Det. John Duran said the program “worked out great” for him. He saved money and commuting time when he moved to Anaheim from Whittier.

Funding for Anaheim’s program comes from the general budget, not redevelopment funds. Officers may live anywhere in town, including upscale Anaheim Hills and East Anaheim.

About a fourth of program participants, however, chose to live in “redevelopment-type areas,” said Phyllis Mueller, Anaheim’s neighborhood development director.

Bottolfson said the program works well if officers can live in any area they want, but he expressed skepticism about requiring participants to move into high-crime areas.

“When I first started as a cop, I would not have dreamed of living in the city I was working in,” Bottolfson said.

“When you go to the academy you hear all the horror stories of seeing people at the market that you arrested.”

Also contributing to this report was Times librarian Sheila A. Kern.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Home Loans

The Legislature is considering a bill that would let cities provide a down payment of 20% for police officers to buy homes in redevelopment areas with high crime rates.

Anaheim already has a similar program in place to give officers $10,000 down payments to buy homes anywhere in the city. Highlights of the city’s program:

* Adopted: 1995

* Participants: 27

* Where participating officers moved from: Garden Grove, Riverside, La Habra, Murietta, Yorba Linda, Glendora, Corona, Whittier

* Home price range: $122,000 to $307,000

* Who buys: Officers of all ages and ranks

* Biggest plus: No commuting

* Biggest minus: Possibility of running into criminals that the officers have arrested

Researched by JOHN CANALIS / For The Times