A FORUM FOR COMMUNITY ISSUES Making a Difference One Neighborhood's Approach: A Decade's Work Saves a Park A Mid-Wilshire Community Overcomes the Odds and Cleans Up a Crime Magnet: [Home Edition]

STRATEGY

* Know who your City Council representative and Recreation and Park commissioners are.

* Get to know your area's police captain or police community-relations officer, and the city's Recreation and Park regional director: Cultivate them as allies and learn their jurisdictional boundaries.

* Present a unified neighborhood front; build a consensus and demonstrate willingness to balance security with the need for open park access.

* Be patient and be prepared to share in problem solving over the long haul.

TACTICS

* Form a neighborhood group or join your area's neighborhood group and meet regularly.

* Keep a log of undesirable or criminal activities in your park.

* Obtain supporting crime statistics...