A Beat WITH A Heart

In Park Terrace Mobile Home Park in northwest Santa Ana, parents are proud when their children get a ticket from Police Officer Gloria Perez.

Youngsters crowded around on a recent afternoon when Perez drove up in her black-and-white patrol car. Some kids arrived on bikes and skateboards, others ran up in packs of three or four. All clutched wads of green tickets in their fists--tickets that Perez doles out while on the job.

The tickets go into a raffle held Fridays as part of a community policing program developed by Perez and called Junior Children of Pride, or Junior COPS. Pint-sized winners can walk away with prizes from computers to school supplies to tickets to an Angels baseball game. Entry is earned by good grades and good deeds.

If that sounds a bit like bribery, Perez agrees. Part baby-sitter, guidance counselor, tutor and mentor, Perez says she does whatever it takes to get the attention of the more than 200 children who call the mobile park home.

“I want to be their educator,” she said. “It feels good when the children understand why [police officers] do what we do.”

Until recently, vandalism and gangs were persistent problems. Perez, a specialist in community policing, proposed taking aggressive action to keep crime from taking hold in the working-class Latino neighborhood. And Perez, 40, was given free reign by the Santa Ana Police Department to figure out how to do it in a one-year trial program.

Her approach strays far from traditional police work.

Since June, Perez has been a constant presence, figuring out what needs to be done and doing it. She heard youngsters complaining about being bored, so she talked the library into providing weekly stops by the bookmobile.

It’s been a hit with the kids, who nearly all have personal library cards.

When teachers reported that many of the park’s kids weren’t turning in their homework--for lack of a quiet place to study to not having anyone at home to help--Perez launched into action. She started an after-school “homework lab” staffed with volunteers.

If she’s not working, Perez might be found combing through clothing bins at secondhand stores, bringing pants, shoes and other items to neighborhood children too poor to afford them.

Virginia Avila, a community police volunteer who helps Perez, says the officer never seems to stop.

“Sometimes, I think she’s superwoman,” Avila said. “She’s real gung-ho about helping the children. She’s got so much energy.”

The program is sponsored entirely by private donors and nonprofit organizations--a testimony to Perez’s ability to charm others into providing the computers, toys and other prizes given away each week.

Community leaders applaud Perez’s work.

Dee Morrison, principal at nearby Simmons Elementary, said Perez helps provide the neighborhood children with a needed boost and gives parents a sense that the city cares about them.

“The families have a great many needs,” Morrison said. “That’s why the homework laboratory Gloria set up is great.”

Residents say the neighborhood has taken a turn for the better since Perez arrived.

“There was a period when the kids started tagging and everything was a mess,” longtime resident Antonia Garcia said. “Now . . . the kids behave themselves.”

Perez’s other goal, to create a positive relationship between at-risk youth and the police, has also been achieved, supporters said.

“All the kids think the cops are like family now, and they’re not afraid of them,” Garcia said.

Perez makes a point of bringing Spanish-speaking officers to help with the weekly raffle, mostly because she wants to encourage youths who may one day consider a job in law enforcement.

Officer Rufus Tanksley helped with the raffle on a recent Friday. As he began spinning the golden barrel containing the tickets, dozens of children gathered around, laughing with the excitement of it all. But each draw made the children silent with anticipation.

“Pokemon stickers to Iris for preparing a book report and to Manuel for cleaning the yard,” Tanksley began. “And there’s a McDonald’s meal to Myra for helping other kids with their homework.”

The week’s grand prize--a computer--went to Jennifer Guerra. The 6-year-old earned it by helping her blind grandfather around the house and doing her homework. “My best thing is to read,” she explained.

Perez, her uniform askew from all the hugs from neighborhood children, said the kids aren’t the only winners. Seeing their excitement and the improvements in the park is very rewarding.

“I feel very lucky,” she said.