Gang Killings Up 20%; L.A. Police Launch Major Sweep

Los Angeles police mounted a 1,000-officer sweep in South-Central and other areas of the city Friday night, just after the department reported a 20% rise in gang murders this year.

It was the second time the LAPD had staged a sweep of that size since Police Chief Daryl F. Gates pledged about two months ago to do whatever is necessary to control “the rotten little cowards” in gangs.

Half of the force fanned out through the southern part of the city after roll calls at the Southeast Division, looking for “gang bangers.” The others scattered throughout the rest of the city.

“We can’t mount a 1,000-officer task force every day or week, but we’ll do it with some regularity, and the purpose is to obliterate gang violence in the city,” said LAPD spokesman Cmdr. William Booth. “As Chief Gates has said, we’ll do whatever it takes for as long as it takes.”

Gang Killings Up Sharply

The police sweep came as the LAPD reported that gang-related murders in Los Angeles have risen sharply this year, climbing to 96 through the end of May from 80 during the same period in 1987.

So far this year, according to authorities, 138 people have died in gang-related killings throughout Los Angeles County. The toll reached a record 387 in the city and county last year.

Despite a 20% increase in the number of slayings, Booth expressed some optimism that the Police Department’s anti-gang efforts are having some effect. He noted that there has been a 2.6% drop in gang-related crime in South-Central during the first five months of the year.

Police “are making headway, but we still have a way to go,” he said.

Since the middle of April, the LAPD has made about 12,500 arrests in at least a dozen anti-gang sweeps. More than half of those arrested have been gang members, according to the police.

In a related development, police arrested 12 suspected gang members Friday at an East Los Angeles housing project that they said is a hotbed of drug sales among rival gangs. Authorities confiscated $40,000 worth of rock cocaine, $3,000 in cash and eight guns, LAPD officials said.

The arrests, at five different apartment units, climaxed a monthlong investigation into drug sales at Aliso Village, a sprawling, 685-unit city housing project at 1401 East 1st St.

Crips gang members and rival black and Latino gangs have been struggling to mark out territories at the complex, the largest of four low-income projects in East Los Angeles, Lt. Jim Duke said.

A team of 34 investigators, including members of the LAPD Narcotics Division and the Hollenbeck Division anti-gang unit, carried out the investigation amid growing pressure from residents of the complex concerned over violence and drug sales there, Duke said. After a series of undercover drug buys, officers served search warrants at five apartments and recovered a total of 9 ounces of rock cocaine, he said.

Arrested were Edward Byrd, 30; Rodrick Codwell, 35; Annette Crosby, 35; Arnold Dean, 21; Albert Gray, 63; Anthony Hypolite (no age reported); Mia Jackson, 23; LeRoy Landry, 18; Angelo Thiboddaux, 22; Brenda Thomas, 23; George Williams, 24, and one juvenile.

They were booked on suspicion of possessing rock cocaine for sale and scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, police said.

All of the suspects are believed to be members or associates of the East Coast Crips, a particularly violent gang that has been involved in selling rock cocaine in the area. About a dozen shootings at or near the complex this year have been attributed to rivalry among drug-dealing gangs, Lt. Sergio Robleto said.

Concerned residents have threatened to demonstrate against police to force officers to crack down on the activity, police said.

“It’s very common knowledge that, on some of the streets in Aliso Village, you can go and purchase rock cocaine,” Duke said. “We had people coming from all over Southern California to buy rock cocaine there.”

Although a small group of residents met last week to try to bring pressure against drug dealers, a number of residents, who said they know those who were arrested, insisted that the suspects do not belong to gangs.

Delores Lincoln, 53, who said her grandson was among those arrested, said drug sales at or near the complex were carried out by nonresidents. She blamed police officers for breaking the porcelain commode in her two-bedroom apartment furnished with a shredded couch and cluttered bedrooms.

“If I had drugs, I would have nice furniture,” she said.

Contributing to this story was Times staff writer Paul Feldman.