Broader Anti-Gang Plan Sought

Acknowledging the immensity of problems created by the 18th Street gang--and others--the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday ordered Los Angeles County’s criminal justice agencies to move quickly on a new, coordinated plan of action.

In a sometimes heated debate, the five supervisors wrestled with a range of options to combat Southern California’s largest street gang. Board members agreed that 18th Street in particular, and gangs in general, are a mushrooming public safety problem.

“The 18th Street gang needs a hell of a lot of resources in L.A. County,” said Supervisor Gloria Molina, who has for years represented areas ravaged by the gang. “[We] can declare war on the 18th Street gang and eliminate these hoodlums.”

The vote followed a series in The Times earlier this month describing the growth and criminality of 18th Street, which has a Southern California membership estimated to be as high as 20,000. Among other things, the newspaper showed how law enforcement agencies have not adjusted their tactics to meet the challenges posed by the gang’s spread across city, state and international borders.

Meanwhile, also responding to the newspaper’s investigation, the chairwoman of the Los Angeles City Council’s Public Safety Committee has asked the police chief, the Police Commission, the city attorney, the mayor’s office and the chief legislative analyst to recommend ways they can work together to curb 18th Street.

At a hearing scheduled for next month, the officials will report to Councilwoman Laura Chick’s committee on measures already taken against the gang and on what more needs to be done.

“My overall impression,” Chick said, “is law enforcement has lost the upper hand, particularly in certain [areas].”

The city must address the problem, she said, in a “tactical, strategic way” that relies on better law enforcement coordination and finding new financial resources for intervention and prevention programs. The issue, Chick said, is “How do we get the upper hand back?”

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors instructed the Sheriff’s Department, the district attorney’s office, the Probation Department and court officials to propose new anti-gang strategies.

“Our responsibility is to bring focus to this,” said the board’s incoming chairman, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who called for the coordinated plan. He pledged to make 18th Street and other gangs a top priority next year.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich began the debate with a motion urging the FBI to conduct a racketeering probe of 18th Street and to work with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to deport arrested members of the gang who are illegal immigrants. Other supervisors said that is just part of the response needed.

Molina sparred pointedly with Antonovich, calling his ill-fated motion’s narrow focus on illegal immigrants “one of the most insulting” she had ever seen. She also criticized Antonovich for seeking to shift responsibility for combating gang violence to the federal government. In supporting the call for a stepped-up local effort, Molina convinced her colleagues to explore ways to criminally charge parents who allow their children to join gangs.

“There’s a lot of resistance to going this route,” Molina said. But she noted that gangsters are rapidly driving up costs for everything from juvenile hall to children’s services.