Vandal Squad

The vandals who broke into the Malabar School on Los Angeles' overcrowded east side did a thoroughgoing job. They whirled through nine classrooms, the athletic rooms, the teachers' kitchen and dining room. They broke chairs and tables, splattered ink over the walls, smashed whatever clocks they happened to find. Last week the five boys responsible found out that crime doesn't pay. It had taken L.A.'s special school security section only a few hours to track them down.

In its six years, the security section has chalked up a record that any large city might envy. When former School Superintendent Alexander Stoddard set it up in 1948, Los Angeles was suffering a postwar boom in delinquency. Last week--in spite of the fact that the juvenile crime rate throughout the rest of the city has climbed 16%--the school system announced that its annual bill for burglary and vandalism had been cut from $300,000 to $127,000.

From his cluttered office in the head quarters of the board of education. Section Chief Robert O. Graham, 49, runs his 33 agents, watchmen and clerks like a miniature FBI. His twelve special agents have all served on police forces, must take courses in law and psychology before earning their deputy's badge from the sheriff. Though they turn some cases (e.g., truancy and dope peddling) over to other authorities, their own quarry includes every one from the little boy who steals ice cream to the crackpot who might threaten to shoot the superintendent.

Last year all but 25 of the city's 500 schools were forced to call on Graham's agents. There were 25 cases of arson, 342 of vandalism, 182 of theft, 947 of burglary, 37 involving such miscellaneous matters as damage to a school lawn. But Graham's cases are steadily dwindling. The number of arrests last week: 24. The weekly average a year ago: 50.

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