‘Hammer’ Seeks to Keep Handle on Rise in Gangs

The sickly sweet aroma of ether given off by Super Kools, cigarettes dipped in the drug PCP, still hung in the hot air when a Los Angeles police car rolled down El Dorado Avenue in Pacoima, causing a group of about 20 suspected gang members to scatter.

Those too slow or too stoned to escape were caught with the help of five other police cars and three motorcycles that sped up seconds later in response to the first cruiser’s call for help. Soon, nine young men, some with gang tattoos, were on their knees, hands behind their heads and flashlights shining in their faces, waiting to be searched and questioned.

The sidewalk lineup was one of many this weekend as the Los Angeles Police Department carried out what it calls Operation Hammer, its latest anti-gang sweep, across the San Fernando Valley.

The sweep, the fourth in the Valley and its first since last fall, came three days after statistics were released for the first six months of 1989 showing a 187% surge in gang-related crime.

Only one of the young men in the 10300 block of El Dorado was arrested and that was on charges of being under the influence of PCP, a hallucinogenic drug that can cause users to suddenly become violent. He staggered and responded quietly to questioning. The others were told not to gather on the street and were released after their names were run through the Police Department’s computer to check for outstanding warrants.

But Sgt. O’Neil Carter, who supervises police anti-gang activities in the northeast Valley, acknowledged: “They’ll be back in an hour or so, and so will we.”

Despite the rapid rise in gang-related crime, and a 20% increase in gang membership in the Valley since last year, police experts said the problem remains manageable. But they said anti-gang efforts must keep pace and more attention must be paid to preventing youths from joining gangs or the problem will worsen.

Several police officers involved in the weekend sweep said the Valley’s problems have already reached the level of gang activity seen three years ago in South-Central Los Angeles, which is the scene of almost daily gang shootings and assaults.

“That portends a real bad future unless something is done to reverse it,” said Cmdr. Chet Spencer, in charge of the anti-gang sweep. “You can’t just throw money at it, and you can’t just build prisons. You have to have a multifaceted approach and we’re not doing it and we’re dying of this cancer.”

Throughout Friday evening and early Saturday, 146 police officers taking part in the gang sweep arrested 48 gang members and 83 others for violations ranging from outstanding warrants and being under the influence of illegal drugs to possession of a concealed weapon. The operation continued Saturday night.

Police on Friday night and early Saturday questioned 281 people, including 187 gang members, and issued 114 citations, a quarter of them to gang members. Police also impounded 25 vehicles for a variety of offenses.

Youths Polite

The youths questioned and detained were overwhelmingly compliant, even polite, as officers searched them and checked their bodies for gang-related tattoos.

One youth had the words “Sleepy Pacoima” and “Pacas Flats”--his gang moniker and the name of his gang--tattooed on his arms and neck. Teardrops were tattooed beneath his eyes in memory of a fellow gang member who had been killed.

The car in which he was riding had been weaving and was pulled over. All three occupants were high on PCP and a vial containing a small amount was found in the car, police said. His head nodded and he could barely keep his eyes open while police questioned him.

“For the results and the number of officers we had, it was one of the most productive ‘Hammers’ that we’ve ever run,” said Sgt. John Staugaard, who compiled statistics on the mission.

But even with the additional personnel, sizable groups of youths--such as several standing on Hinds Avenue and on Vineland Avenue near Sherman Way in North Hollywood--were left undisturbed, coolly standing under neon signs and eyeing police officers, busy with other calls, driving past.

Extra Officers

About 60 officers from elsewhere in the department were also to have taken part, but a rash of gang-related shootings in South-Central Los Angeles this past week caused them to be reassigned there instead. Spencer said little money was available to pay additional officers overtime. A majority of the officers were assigned to the Foothill Division in the northeast Valley and to the North Hollywood Division, with the others spread over the rest of the Valley.

“We’re out here in large numbers to take the streets back,” Spencer said as he drove through the area around the Van Nuys-Pierce Apartments. “Most of these people are decent and we want this community . . . to be safe for them. We want them to be able to come out and enjoy the cool of the evening without worrying about getting shot.”

Spencer acknowledged that some of the additional police activity amounted to harassment, a complaint often heard from civil libertarians in connection with random anti-crime sweeps that catch anyone who appears suspicious in their net. “We’re stopping people on the street who are not gang members,” he said.

The Valley version of Operation Hammer, however, appeared to be more low-key than several controversial sweeps last year in South-Central Los Angeles in which police officers allegedly broke into houses and trashed them in search of gang members suspected of committing crimes.

Gang Ties

Sgt. Jeff Greer, who recently transferred from the 77th Division in South-Central Los Angeles to the Foothill Division, said many of the gang members he sees in the Valley have strong ties to gangs that he used to encounter in his old position.

“You see these guys, and you know they’re not typical Valley gang-bangers,” Greer said Friday night as he helped search about 15 suspected gang members in front of an apartment house on Borden Avenue north of Van Nuys. He said the suspected gang members’ hair styles and tattoos indicated that they belong to such notorious South-Central gangs as the Rollin’ 60s and Rollin’ 30s.

One of the men Greer searched and questioned carried nearly $1,200 in cash, wore a beeper and acknowledged that he was on parole after serving six months in jail for selling cocaine. He told police that he had the money to pay first and last month’s rent on a new apartment for his girlfriend and his son. He was released.

Later in the evening, 10 police officers moved up a Bonanza Street cul-de-sac, a helicopter shining its light down on a back-yard party attended by an estimated 200 youths. The party’s host said gang members had forced their way in, and he was afraid that violence was about to begin.

Project Boys

Police questioned about 15 youths suspected of being members of the Project Boys gang and seized a loaded .25-caliber automatic pistol from a slight, 15-year-old gang member. He was handcuffed and arrested. Another gang member was held because he was named in an outstanding misdemeanor warrant.

A neighbor stood at his fence and was overjoyed at the sight of the youths lined up, hands behind their heads, as the police officers checked them out. “This is a wonderful thing they’re doing for this area here,” Joseph Arambula said of the police action.

Several officers acknowledged that Operation Hammer’s effect is short-lived and is inadequate as an isolated occurrence for reducing gang crime.

“You’ve just got to hope you can do it enough times to chase these groups away,” Officer Brent Honore said.