Lakewood Sees First Evidence of Gangs on Its Sleepy Streets

City officials and the Sheriff’s Department fear that the gang activity gripping many Southeast Los Angeles County cities is slowly working its way into the heart of this sleepy bedroom community.

“The clues are there,” said Deputy Dale DuBois, a community relations officer at the Lakewood Sheriff’s Station. “(Residents) see gang members now where they didn’t notice (them) before.”

City officials acknowledge that in the past several months, gang members from surrounding areas have begun appearing in small numbers around the sprawling Lakewood Mall in the center of this 9.5-square-mile city. The gang members, wearing their colors, have been spotted by law enforcement officers at several local theaters and parks.

Ironically, officials say gang members are drawn to Lakewood by the same qualities that attract residents: quiet neighborhoods with trim, single-family homes and breezy, manicured parks. Gang members want to “escape the heat” of police and rival gangs in other communities, said DuBois, who works with the sheriff’s crime prevention unit.

“It’s virgin territory here,” he said. “(Gang members) come here to get away from the troubles they find on their own streets.”

The gang presence has not resulted in any major trouble to date--a sign that gang members are not yet attempting to stake a claim in Lakewood, officials said.

However, city officials warn that Lakewood could eventually have to deal with the random shootings and other gang-related violence that have plagued surrounding communities.

For example, in North Long Beach, a 21-year-old resident of the Carmelitos housing project was shot in the back by gang members recently. In Compton, gang-related shootings have become more frequent, police report.

And in Buena Park June 4, an 82-year-old woman was killed by a bullet meant for a reputed gang member. Buena Park is less than two miles east of Lakewood.

In response to reports of heightened gang activity in other areas, city officials say they are not taking any chances in Lakewood. They vow to spend more money for law enforcement measures to prevent further gang influence.

Recently, at the urging of the City Council, the Sheriff’s Department assigned an officer to the Pacific Theater near Candlewood Street and beefed up its uniformed presence and undercover operations around the main shopping center.

“Their focus is to identify gang members and divert crime activity away from Lakewood,” DuBois said. “No one has claimed Lakewood yet. We are making certain that they don’t stake a claim.”

In Lakewood so far, sheriff’s Operation Safe Streets and Street Criminal Apprehension teams have identified members of the Crips and the Bloods, two gangs featured in the controversial movie “Colors,” DuBois said. Members of two rival Long Beach gangs, the East Side Longos and West Side Longos, have also been spotted at the Lakewood Mall, he said, usually on Friday and Saturday nights.

Because of the identifications, managers of the two theaters at the mall have agreed not to show the film, which DuBois said could have sparked violence if members of rival gangs attended a screening at the same time.

Since December four youths identified as gang members have been arrested at the shopping center for fighting and petty theft, DuBois said. “Fortunately for us, (the rival gangs) have not been there at the same time.” But if gangs continue to frequent the mall, more severe problems are likely to arise, he said.

Donald Waldie, a city spokesman, acknowledged that although no gangs are based in Lakewood, several gang members live in the city. He declined to name their gangs.

“There is the perception that gang activity has increased,” said Waldie. “Many people feel that the presence of gangs has become more obvious.

“The graffiti certainly has gotten more obvious,” he added.

Although graffiti is rare in most parts of Lakewood, a sound barrier under construction along the San Gabriel River Freeway has provided a “fresh canvas” for graffiti, some of it indicating the presence of gangs, Waldie said.

Lakewood Mayor Jacqueline Rynerson said the city also has launched a stronger effort to educate parents and discourage gang identification in Lakewood.

“We have a strong anti-graffiti program,” Rynerson said. “As soon as it appears, it is important that we take it off so we won’t let the message get any attention.”

Interest Generated

Members of Neighborhood Watch groups that have existed for years are being advised by the Sheriff’s Department on how to recognize drug and gang activity, Rynerson said. The neighborhood groups previously focused on home burglaries, stolen bicycles and broken curfews.

“It’s a sign of the times,” said Rynerson. “We want parents to be aware of what to look out for.”

Brooks Cope, a spokesman for Mothers Against Gangs in the Community, said the organization has generated interest from public officials, including Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner and Assemblyman Paul Zeltner (R-Bellflower). He said the group’s membership has grown to more than 850 since it formed three months ago.

MAGIC--patterned after the well-known Mothers Against Drunk Driving--was founded by Patricia Patrick of Lakewood, whose close friend was a victim of a gang-related drive-by shooting in Long Beach.

The group is planning to sponsor a series of public hearings on gang violence this month, inviting public officials and concerned residents from all Southeast cities, said Cope, a Lakewood attorney.

“We’ve got to put a skid on it and stop it,” Cope said. “This is not happening in somebody else’s community. It is not a slum problem. It is not an unemployment problem. It’s going on right around us.”