For thousands of residents living on the south side of the 10 Freeway, the nighttime patrols by police helicopters with their roving spotlights have been a bit unnerving this past week. But then, so were the four gang-related shootings and the reported sexual assault that have occurred just since the Fourth of July.

While the helicopters may provide some level of ease, they also serve as a constant reminder that the gang-bangers could strike at any moment. We can only hope that no one is struck with their bullets. The violence and increased police patrols might also lead people to conclude they are either caught living in a war zone or have found themselves residing in the ’hood.

Tell that to the people who have purchased homes there. The Pico neighborhood — while certainly not north of Montana, where real estate investments are much more hefty but at least come without the gang-banger threat — their homes have value all the same.

Pico residents have said they want true community centered policing, not an occupying force. Some residents feel as if police are continually stopping and harassing kids, or anyone for that matter, as they walk down the street. The results of which only instill bad attitudes and distrust.

They want the same courtesy and respect allotted other parts of town. Of course, those other areas don’t have the same number of low-income housing projects, where unfortunately, many of the shootings occur.

One shooting this past week was in the alley behind Euclid Street, near Pico Boulevard. There is a Community Corp. of Santa Monica building at the corner. According to a report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, prepared under the Clinton Administration, residents who live in or near low-income housing projects are more than twice as likely to be victims of gun violence than the community as a whole.

That might be one reason there aren’t any low-income housing projects north of Montana or Wilshire, or in the Sunset Park neighborhood — where several City Council members live. There would seem an obvious correlation between the fact that nearly all of this community’s violence happens in the Pico neighborhood — from which there has never been a resident elected to the City Council.

Pico has been ignored for decades and has traditionally always been a more impoverished neighborhood than other areas of Santa Monica. But Pico — which is bound by Pico Boulevard on the south side, Lincoln Boulevard on the west side, Santa Monica Boulevard to 20th Street on the north side, to Colorado Avenue, and to Centinela Avenue on the eastern boundary — has seen significant gentrification, especially since it is one of the largest sections of the city. What used to be a predominately poor black community, and then turned mostly Hispanic, has seen many middle-class white families moving in after having been priced out of other areas in Santa Monica.

The block on Euclid Street where the shooting occurred in broad daylight on Sunday afternoon — reportedly by 15- and 16-year-olds — is lined with small apartment complexes and several homes worth $1 million or more. Imagine paying that kind of money and worrying whether or not your children might get killed in a drive-by shooting while playing in the yard.

About 10,000 people live in the Pico neighborhood and they are being held hostage by a handful of criminals. Tensions seem to rise when those locked up for parole and probation violations are released. That’s when the shootings happen and that’s when Pico residents’ frustrations flare.

City officials have thrown money at the problem by hosting a few gang summit meetings and job fairs. They’ve put in more street lights and what are called “safe walking paths.” Still, how will that protect residents when bullets fly?

They’ve increased police patrols and renovated a city park in the heart of the troubled area of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, the $13 million renovation of Virginia Avenue Park hasn’t kept the gang members and attackers away. There was a shooting there on July 7, where a young Hispanic male was shot in the upper torso. He survived. Four days later, a woman said she was sexually assaulted while using the pay phone around 6 a.m.

All that criminal activity and violence with a police substation permanently set up at the park. Police presence is a good thing. So why not have that station staffed 24/7, rather than just 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day?

Residents are going to have to take back their streets. We are not suggesting vigilantism, but we are suggesting a strong neighborhood watch program be put into place, with the police actively involved. Even if one quarter of the residents who live in Pico were to organize routine patrols, it just might deter the punks from pulling out their artillery.