A recreation area once claimed by gangs has been turned into a bustling community park with help from City Hall and the LAPD. But it took a former heavy-hitter in the local gang to close the deal. Four years ago, a police crackdown and a decline in violent crime created an opening. Workers planted grass and hung nets from the rusted basketball rims. The park, tentatively, began to rebuild. But to accomplish any sort of rebirth, city officials were forced to admit that they needed help of a different sort. They needed the gang.
