These expensive homes are shielded from the street by walls, ornate gates or dense plantings. Discreetly placed security cameras scan driveways and structures, and not-so-discreetly placed private security signs warn ?EUR??,,????'?????<

But Los Angeles police say that burglars have learned to exploit the very isolation and privacy that make the area so attractive to many of the region?EUR??,,????'?????<

Over the last four years, at least two bands of burglars have targeted more than 150 hillside and canyon residences in the city, getting away with what the Los Angeles Police Department estimates to be more than $20 million worth of jewelry, cash and artwork. Most of the burglars remain at large.

List of Victims

Victims of the more than 70 burglaries in the last year have included former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing and her Oscar-winning director husband, William Friedkin; Clippers basketball star Cuttino Mobley; and country music stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

Vee Motto, membership chairwoman for the Brentwood Park Assn., said her homeowners group had tried two or three times in recent years to promote a neighborhood watch program, to no avail.

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Motto, 88, a 57-year resident of the area, said the organization decided instead to include the cost of a private patrol service in annual dues.

Another complicating factor is that many upscale parts of Los Angeles are in perpetual states of construction or remodeling. Some streets are routinely lined with the pickup trucks and vans of plumbing contractors, caterers, gardeners and pool men, so that a burglar?EUR??,,????'?????<