Thread: From L.A., gangs go global

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_5173313

From L.A., gangs go global
LAPD chief to open international summit to discuss rise in violence.
By Rachel Uranga, Staff writer
Long Beach Press Telegram
Article Launched:02/06/2007 10:43:04 PM PST

Acknowledging that Los Angeles is the epicenter of a global gang crisis, fueling violence from Guatemala to Russia, law enforcement officials from around the world will meet this week to tackle the scourge.
LAPD Chief William Bratton will open a three-day summit today to discuss the migration of gang members from Southern California to their homelands, bringing a culture of violence and terror.

"We are seeing the international gang problem growing by leaps and bounds," said Lt. Gary Nanson, head of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley gang unit. "They have opened up the door for the local criminal. They are more worldly in their ability to franchise, they can move stolen goods or narcotics or money across boundaries."

The summit will focus on gangs with ties to Central America. Becoming increasingly sophisticated and murderous, these transnational gangs - such as the U.S.-grown Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13 - are ravaging poor Central American communities and terrorizing Los Angeles neighborhoods.

The techniques are increasingly similar on both sides of the border.

In El Salvador, officials say, gang members commit half of the country's homicides. But there, gang members have derailed the city's infrastructure. In December 2005, Salvadoran gangs demanding "taxes" killed a series of bus drivers, shutting down service.

Local police are afraid some of the more brazen tactics Central American gangs use will emerge in Los Angeles.

"Their tactics are a lot more vicious than other gangs, they are more violent and they are everywhere," said Robert Loofle, the FBI agent overseeing Los Angeles' criminal division. "They use intimidation to get what they want, they will commit a vicious homicide to show their power and the force, then easily cross the border.

"We have to clamp down now so they don't evolve into something stronger and more vicious."

Key to slowing gang activity is better cooperation among police agencies in all countries - an item officials will focus on this week. All are clamoring for better intelligence.

Now, local law enforcement agencies contact other countries when they are looking for a suspect to be extradited. With increased cooperation, federal and local authorities hope they can eventually share surveillance on gang members and knowledge of their activities.

"Our fear is that they become franchises and unwittingly help other organizations like narco-traffickers as muscle or transporting money," Loofle said.

In areas of the San Fernando Valley, where transnational gangs such as MS 13 and 18th Street have taken root in North Hollywood and Van Nuys in recent years, violent gang crime has soared.

Most troubling, police say, is the rising level of witness intimidation, which criminal organizations use to keep their members out of jail. In the North Hollywood area, the number of intimidation cases rose 85 percent in 2005-06, from 13 to 24.

"The part that scares us is that the percentage of increase of violent gang crime is higher in the Valley than any other regions ... we need to act fast," Nanson said.

Last year the San Fernando Valley saw a 42 percent increase in violent gang crime and citywide, gang crime jumped 14 percent. There has also been a rise in hate crimes among gang members.

The summit comes a day before Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is set to release a sweeping anti-gang effort and follows a high-profile report finding the city's gang prevention piecemeal and ineffective.

Community activists have lobbied for intervention efforts such as lengthening school hours and providing job opportunities. But stopping the spread of gangs - who can call on strong family ties and rooted criminal networks in both countries - will prove tough.

Rachel Uranga can be reached at rachel.uranga@dailynews.com.

The summit comes a day before Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is set to release a sweeping anti-gang effort and follows a high-profile report finding the city's gang prevention piecemeal and ineffective.

Too bad the good Mayor cannot admit that as a "sanctuary city" LA is simply inviting this very problem. But he, like Senator Schumer, will come up with programs that will cost the taxpayers millions and in the long run do little if any good.

Originally Posted by legal4mykidsfuture

The summit comes a day before Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is set to release a sweeping anti-gang effort and follows a high-profile report finding the city's gang prevention piecemeal and ineffective.

Too bad the good Mayor cannot admit that as a "sanctuary city" LA is simply inviting this very problem. But he, like Senator Schumer, will come up with programs that will cost the taxpayers millions and in the long run do little if any good.

This pretty much sums up the corruption afflicting this country right now! "LAPD Chief William Bratton will open a three-day summit today" but will not do the right thing, which is arrest and deport criminal gang leaders and treat their entry into the US as an invasion of the US by an unfriendly foreign power and treat these gang members as enemy soldiers (is everyone in the US so brainwashed that they cannot recognize this?) But we will "try".

Can you imagine what the outcome of World War II would have been if we "tried" to defeat the Nazis instead of actually winning against them?

LA needs to solve their problems. They allowed the problems to happen by electing the mayor they did. Once they start looking for illegals and anchor babies then they will know where the problems exist. We got rid of the mafia and now LA must clean up their city. NOT THE US TAXPAYERS.