Watts pool reopens with tighter security

By the time Los Angeles city officials arrived to make the announcement Wednesday, dozens of children already were diving, splashing and screaming in the water at the 109th Street Swimming Pool in Watts.

The word was out.

"Finally, we have our pool back," said Wesley Perkins, 14, adding that he learned to swim there. "When it was closed, there was nothing to do. This is all we have."

City officials reached a deal Wednesday morning to beef up security and reopen the neighborhood pool, where a band of young men went on a rampage Sunday. Two armed guards and six pool workers were easily overwhelmed by up to 30 young men, who attacked the manager and threw him, a lifeguard and a locker attendant into the water.

The pool, part of a park that includes a baseball field, was shut down after the incident, which took place in sweltering afternoon heat and while it was packed with more than 200 people.

The pool is between two public housing projects, Nickerson Gardens and Jordan Downs, and two competing neighborhood gangs.

The agreement to reopen the pool was reached after a 90-minute meeting of the Watts Gang Task Force -- a coalition of community leaders and representatives of neighborhood organizations and governmental agencies who meet once a week in an effort to resolve some of the problems that stem from gang violence -- in Councilwoman Janice Hahn's Watts office.

Under the new security arrangement, two Los Angeles police officers and two city general services officers will join the two security guards previously hired by the city Department of Recreation and Parks.

In addition, up to six men from the neighborhood Moonlight Basketball League will assist in controlling unruly crowds on the pool deck.

At Wednesday's reopening there were more officials -- and security -- on the pool deck than swimmers in the water.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa walked up to a lectern on the pool deck and announced that the pool was back.

"We're here today united for one reason -- to take back our park," Villaraigosa said. "This park and this pool represents the heart of the Watts community. Sunday's incident represented an attack on all the residents of Watts."

The heavy security was for a reason, police said.

"We have to make a statement," said Capt. Phillip C. Tingirides, commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department's Southeast Division. At the same time, he stressed that a longer-term strategy was needed.