Burbank Council Concerned : Police Told to Report Anti-Gang Efforts

Burbank City Council members have told police that they want weekly reports detailing the crackdown on gang activity.

“People are scared like they’ve never been scared before,” said Councilwoman Mary Lou Howard. “Mothers are telling me that they’re frightened to drive home alone after they drop their kids off at the movies or the park. The gang members and the parents should know that we’re not going to tolerate this in our city.”

Vice Mayor Al F. Dossin said he hopes the gang problems plaguing Los Angeles will not extend into Burbank.

About nine gangs are causing problems around city schools, shopping areas and the AMC 10-screen theater in downtown Burbank, police said.

The incidents included one last Thursday in which a woman driving with her 12- and 6-year-old sons along Alameda Avenue was accosted by an apparent gang member, said Detective Pat Lynch. He said the youth, who was standing near several other young men, threw a large piece of concrete at the car, hitting it just below the driver’s window.

A random shooting during a dance at an armory on Valhalla Drive on Sunday also was gang-related, Lynch said. No one was injured in the shooting, but four gang members later were arrested and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, he said. The gang was not based in Burbank, Lynch said.

And a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner Friday issued an order for a gang to stop harassing and intimidating residents on the 1200 block of Brighton Street, officials said.

Police said they have taken several steps to combat gang activity.

Until recently, gang members were congregating around Burbank Junior High School, police said. Officers kept a high profile around the school and discouraged the gangs from gathering there, they said.

Police said they have formed gang suppression units made up of detectives and patrol officers to ride around problem areas. All officers were trained in gang investigation last month.

Despite the increased efforts, Howard said she wants a weekly oral report to the council from Police Chief Glen Bell on anti-gang efforts. Although city officials and some fellow council members said such a report would give the gangs added publicity, she insisted that it is needed.

“We’d be crazy to bury our heads in the sand and pretend this problem doesn’t exist,” she said.