Gang Homicides Increase 69% in L.A. County Areas : Violence: Authorities blame heavy firepower, impact of poverty and appeal of a ‘trendy’ image.

Gang killings in unincorporated portions of Los Angeles County soared 69% during the first eight months of this year, a period during which all violent crimes in the same region rose 20%, according to figures released Monday.

The homicide increase is concentrated in the southern and eastern portions of the county where gang activity has been a constant problem, Sheriff’s Department officials said.

Deputies and representatives of agencies whose primary mission is to deal with gangs offered a range of theories why the rate of gang-related murders has risen so suddenly and so high. The reasons vary from the powerful armaments being carried by gang members to the worsening impact of poverty and the growing appeal of the gang image in urban pockets.

“It’s become trendy to belong to a gang,” said Steve Valdivia, executive director of County Youth Gang Services, which counsels youths, monitors gang activity and educates the community about gangs. “Innocent kids are dressing like gang members . . . and getting blown away for it.”

Valdivia also cited a major influx of immigrants from Latin America and other Third World areas “who have adopted the gang lifestyle and are not as fearful of law enforcement in this country as they were in their homelands.”

Wes McBride, operations sergeant for the Sheriff’s Department, placed the blame, among other factors, on worsening social conditions in the urban core. “To find the hot spots for gang activity all you do is lay a poverty map over Los Angeles County,” he said. “The social conditions surrounding poverty create a ripe gang environment; some people see crime as the only outlet available to them.”

According to the statistics, 103 gang slayings were committed in unincorporated county communities this year, compared to 61 during the same period a year ago. That compares to 116 gang murders committed in the same parts of Los Angeles County in all of last year.

“It’s a humongous increase,” McBride said.

Within the city limits of Los Angeles gang-related murders rose, but not nearly as dramatically. During the first six months of this year--the last period for which statistics were available--police reported gang homicides up 12.4%

The rapid rise in these gang crimes coincides with a dramatic increase in gang membership, officials said.

According to law enforcement authorities, the estimated number of gang members in the greater Los Angeles area has doubled in the past five years. In 1985, these officials estimated there were 50,000 gang members in the region. This year, that number is placed at 100,000.

Many of the newest gang members are Latinos, who are dying in gang-related violence in record numbers.

“In the first half of 1989, we had 20 Hispanic-versus-Hispanic gang murders, compared with 47 so far this year,” said Undersheriff Robert Edmonds.

“The gang problem is out of control but law enforcement cannot take care of it alone. We need to come to grips with it together--the county, law enforcement, schools, parents.”

The worsening gang homicide statistics have prompted the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to consider reassigning prosecutors to its overloaded gang division, and has renewed calls for additional funding for community anti-gang programs.

“The gang murder rate is up and I need more people to effectively prosecute,” said Mike Genelin, who heads the Los Angeles County district attorney’s hard-core gang unit. “Theoretically, that means we’ll have to fault another area because our entire office is constrained to work within a budget.”

Among the communities patrolled by sheriff’s deputies, the largest increase in gang slayings was reported in Lynwood, where there have been 23 gang homicides to date. There were 13 murders reported there during the same period last year. In Industry there have been 10 such slayings so far this year, compared with to a year ago.

“This weekend I had between 10 and 15 reported shootings and two weeks ago I had 15 shootings,” said Lynwood Sheriff’s Sgt. Joe Holmes. “I don’t know the reason why. I wish I knew.”

The picture is not all bleak.

In the once-notorious jurisdiction of Los Angeles’ South Bureau, the number of slayings continued to decline. Police and community activists credit law enforcement crackdowns coupled with gang intervention programs for the steady decrease that has gained the attention of communities throughout Southern California.

The South Bureau’s Southeast Division reported no gang-related killings during the month of July for the first time in years.

“Things we’re doing are paying off,” said South Bureau Deputy Chief William Rathburn. “We’re targeting specific gangs and gang members, and we’ve improved our intelligence and analysis-gathering ability.”

“At the same time, gang intervention groups such as County Youth Gang Services are working very hard here,” added Rathburn, “and we are organizing youth programs we run out of the police stations such as basketball, soccer and baseball.”

Even as the new statistics were being released, the body count continued to rise in greater Los Angeles as 22 people died in violent confrontations over the weekend.

The weekend slayings included the deaths of three gang members in Los Angeles and a man shot when rivals in a passing car fired an assault rifle at a crowd celebrating the birthday of a 9-year-old in Pomona, authorities said.

In a separate attack, a 26-year-old man was was shot several times early Monday morning while standing on a sidewalk in a South Los Angeles neighborhood known for gang activity, authorities said.

In response to the worsening gang picture, Sheriff Sherman Block has scheduled a meeting for October in hopes of mobilizing elected officials and community leaders from gang-plagued communities.

“The growing problem of gang killings is a tragic phenomenon that must be addressed by all law abiding citizens,” said sheriff’s spokesman Doug McClure. “It is hoped that this meeting will result in a clear commitment to start on the long road to a resolution of this appalling situation.”

BACKGROUND

Statistics on gang crimes depend largely on how law enforcement agencies do their counting. The Los Angeles Police Department defines gang-motivated crimes as those resulting directly from gang activity. Gang-related incidents are defined as those in which the assailant or the victim is a gang member, but where the crime does not necessarily result from gang activity. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, by contrast, makes no distinction between gang-motivated and gang-related crimes, placing all such crimes in a single category.

MORE GANG KILLING

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reports a 69% increase in gang homicides in unincorporated areas for the first eight months of the year. The following chart compares the number of homicides reported at eight-month and one-year intervals, dating back to 1985.

EIGHT-MONTH YEAR-END TOTAL TOTAL 1990 103 -- 1989 61 116 1988 62 96 1987 48 79 1986 31 59 1985 38 58