Task Force Recommends Ways to Combat Gangs

Following recent gang shootings in which two teen-agers were killed and an 8-year-old boy was seriously wounded, the Mayor’s Task Force on Neighborhood Policing presented the City Council this week with a set of recommendations to curb gang activity.

The 20-member task force presented their findings to the council after a yearlong examination of the city’s worst problems: gangs, homelessness, drugs and deteriorating neighborhoods.

The task force called for the hiring of a full-time deputy city attorney who would write laws requiring parents and first-time gang offenders to attend counseling and to hold parents of gang members financially responsible for the actions of their children.

Task force chairman Howard Haas said enforcement of such laws could be an “administrative nightmare” but would be worthwhile.

“Parents need to take responsibility and participate in some sort of class,” Haas said. “We have found that more and more there is a real denial that a child has a drug problem and is part of a gang.”

Police Chief Paul M. Walters recently added four more investigators to the city’s gang unit. The mayor’s task force had requested the move.

“We’ll be hiring them as quickly as possible and putting them into their assignments,” said Walters, who added that the investigators would be concentrating on preventive measures.

“They’ll be able to spend more time gathering information and trying to prevent incidents from occurring,” Walters said.

Concerning the homeless, the task force recommended that Santa Ana enlist the aid of private organizations to build and maintain free public hygiene centers equipped with showers, toilets and washing machines.

“It’s got to be more than just an effort of the city of Santa Ana,” Haas said. “It’s got to be done with the cooperation of the entire county.”

According to official estimates, about 10,000 homeless people live in Orange County, and about 1,500 of those stay in Santa Ana, sleeping in public parks and on the Civic Center grounds.

The council voted to refer the task force findings to the city’s Public Safety Committee for review. The committee’s recommendations for action will be sent back to the council for consideration.