Local News in Brief : More Gang Sweeps Ahead

Police Chief Daryl F. Gates vowed Monday to continue periodic anti-street gang sweeps of South Los Angeles, which have resulted in 540 arrests on three evenings during the past two weeks.

On Saturday and Sunday nights a force of 200 officers arrested suspected gang members on suspicion of crimes ranging from jaywalking and public drunkenness to felonies. In many cases officers approached suspects only because they wore gang colors or were flashing the hand signals of neighborhood gangs.

Gates told a press conference that although suspected gang members are being watched for possible crimes far more closely than average citizens, his officers are not harassing the “good people” of South Los Angeles.

“We are going to continue to do it (the sweeps) over and over and over. . . . I won’t give any signals on when. . . . We will hit them when they least expect it,” he said.