12 Held in Raids Targeting Gang Violence

Responding to a recent rash of gang-related slayings, police officers raided dozens of South Los Angeles residences Tuesday, arresting at least 12 people, including a suspected gang member who allegedly shot and killed two men.

The LAPD operation, dubbed Task Force 98, came in response to three weeks of violence spawned by rekindled gang feuds, leaving seven people dead and several wounded.

Police officials said one gang--the Rollin’ 60s--was either directly or peripherally involved in most of the recent attacks. Many of the LAPD’s targets allegedly belong to that group.

Several law enforcement sources said tensions are running high between the Rollin’ 60s and other gangs. In fact, there appears to be strife within the gang with members shooting each other, police sources said.

Police were at a loss to explain what may have ignited the violence.

“The reason is anyone’s guess,” said Lt. Ed Wilson.

Although most of the shootings have been gang-related, police said some incidents appear to have other causes, such as disputes over drugs.

Most of the people arrested in Tuesday’s sweep were picked up on suspicion of parole violations. Searches of more than 40 residences led to the seizure of five firearms.

Although police officials had hoped for more arrests, they said they were successful in sending a message to gang members.

“This type of violence can’t be ignored,” said Lt. John Dunkin, who helped organize the predawn raids involving more than 140 officers. “We want them to know that we are going to get them.”

Unlike high-profile and oft-criticized gang sweeps of the late 1980s in which police marched through the streets and rounded up hundreds of young black men in a single weekend, Tuesday’s operation reflected the LAPD’s growing sensitivity to community concerns and perceptions.

“In no way do we want to act like an occupying army,” Dunkin said.

At a 4 a.m. briefing at the Los Angeles Sports Arena before the raids, officers were repeatedly told to act professionally and courteously. They were discouraged from ramming through doors unless circumstances required it.

At one stucco house on the 7100 block of 10th Avenue, women and children who were removed from the dwelling during the search for a murder suspect, were provided heated patrol cars to sit in to escape the morning chill.

One woman who was ordered out of the house chastised a lieutenant for treating her and her relatives “like dogs.” She pulled out a cellular phone and threatened to call her attorney. The officer remained polite and low-key with the woman. Minutes later she was joking with him about the impeachment proceedings in Washington, D.C.

At other residences, officers were apologetic about the hour. Police officials said that conducting the searches at dawn improved their chances of catching suspects at home.

In the next few days, LAPD officials will meet with community leaders to fully explain the operation, said Cmdr. David Kalish, the department’s spokesman.

Some searches were unsuccessful. At one house in Compton, police discovered that the man they were looking for was in prison.

The recent surge in slayings in South Los Angeles belies the fact that homicides for the first 11 months of 1998 in the LAPD’s South Bureau were down about 40% compared to the same period for 1997--a year that also saw a dramatic drop in homicides.

Police said the spate of shootings started Dec. 7 when a 32-year-old man was mortally wounded on the 2800 block of West Slauson Avenue. The violence hit a peak last Wednesday when three people were killed and four others seriously wounded in two shootings, including an incident in which a 16-year-old boy was gunned down by an assailant using an assault rifle.

“Some of these [shootings] are massive gun battles. I mean, OK Corral-type battles. With this level of violence we’ve got to move in there and put a clamp down on it right away,” Wilson said.

Police said they believe that they solved two homicides with the arrest of a 22-year-old suspected gang member Tuesday. The man is accused of walking up to Benson Harris, 42, and Derrick Bowie, 34, and shooting them to death. Police declined to identify the suspect.

One former gang member familiar with the community said that some of the shootings appear to be escalating retaliation between Eight-Tray and the Rollin’ 60s, two Crips cliques that are longtime enemies. He said the 16-year-old boy was in the Eight-Tray gang.

“There is talk of retaliation,” said the former gang member, who asked not to be identified. “I think it could get out of hand. Usually it’s an eye for an eye down there.”

*

Times staff writer Kurt Streeter contributed to this report.