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Paramount will open a branch of Compton Municipal Court in a shopping mall in January to speed the handling of traffic violations. The court branch will be in response to complaints from

residents about long waits and crime in Compton. The branch will be housed in the Paramount Plaza Shopping Center. Compton Municipal Court is part of a statewide system handling civil,

criminal and traffic cases. At the criminal level, misdemeanors are tried and preliminary hearings are conducted to determine whether defendants charged with felonies should stand trial in

Superior Court. Compton’s judicial district includes Carson, Lynwood, Paramount and other Southeast areas of Los Angeles County. For several years Paramount residents have lobbied for a

break with Compton Municipal Court, saying its caseload is backlogged and the area around the courthouse is unsafe. They have asked that Paramount residents be allowed to use another court,

such as Los Cerritos Court in nearby Bellflower, or to build a courthouse addition to the Compton system in Paramount. One of the residents, Daisy Majak, said the Compton system is so

overwhelmed that many Paramount cases, especially those involving minor offenses, “never go to trial.” Resident Leona Stahovich agreed: “With their (Compton’s) murders, rapes and robberies

and our tenant evictions, bad checks and traffic, our problems are insignificant compared to their caseload.” Although Steven A. Sowders, head deputy district attorney for Compton, admitted

that the high volume leads to more plea-bargaining in drug and nonviolent cases, he said this was typical for a busy courthouse. “It is the second-busiest courthouse in the county,” Sowders

said, “following only downtown Los Angeles. . . . The case backlog is a fact of life and goes on everywhere. It is more acute in crowded courthouses.” The solution, he added, was building

more courthouses. Paramount residents said they are afraid of being in Compton. Majak said: “I am not an easily intimidated person. When I go to Compton court, I fear for my life.” But

Paramount officials said an overcrowded caseload and not crime in Compton was behind the decision to open a storefront courthouse. Officials said fear or crime is exaggerated. In the last

six months, 10 crimes were reported in the Compton courthouse and parking lots, eight of them involving people trying to bring weapons into the building, said Lt. Clifford Green of the Los

Angeles County Safety Police Division. The metal detectors sounded and the suspects were arrested. The other two incidents were reports of car break-ins in the parking lot, Green added. The

Safety Division is an agency independent of the Sheriff’s Department that oversees security at all courthouses in the county. Green said Compton’s “is perhaps one of the best secured

courthouses in the county” and added: “You are relatively safe inside the building. What’s happening outside is just like any other area. There’s no difference between Compton and South

Central, Long Beach and Paramount.” Compton Council Member Maxcy D. Filer agreed: “There’s crime in every city. Crime doesn’t stop at Paramount’s corner or at Compton’s corner.” The

storefront courthouse is expected to cost Paramount $15,000 to $20,000, according to Patrick West, Paramount’s deputy city manager. The county will provide and pay for the staff. Revenues

from a traffic school in the courthouse will be shared by the school, the city and the shopping center landlord. Some residents would prefer to use the Municipal Court in Bellflower. Of the

six communities served by the Lakewood sheriff’s substation, Paramount is the only one in Compton’s district. Bellflower, Lakewood, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens and Artesia are all served by

the Los Cerritos court in Bellflower. West said Paramount officials asked the county to move their cases to the Bellflower court several years ago; the request was denied. Some residents

hope that the new branch of Compton Municipal Court will eventually handle criminal cases as well as traffic violations. Resident Jenny Lacayo said: “Anything is an improvement. I hope it

(the storefront court) grows, possibly expands. . . . Who knows? Maybe someday we can have our own court.” MORE TO READ