Parents Called Vital to ‘Operation Hammer’

Gang violence, murder and drug dealing are among the worst and most explosive problems afflicting Los Angeles.

Police have tried battering rams on fortified crack houses, pre-dawn raids on known gang hangouts, and massive sweeps in a show of force that they call “Operation Hammer.” They have also tried Neighborhood Watch groups and school programs.

More recently, they have tried a unique pilot program targeting a small area of South-Central Los Angeles by presenting a higher-than-ever profile on the streets even as they work to forge stronger ties with community groups and schools to improve job training and counseling programs for gang members.

But the number of lives lost to drive-by shootings and gang rivalries is soaring.

Law enforcement experts are now agreeing with social scientists who say that police efforts alone won’t work in impoverished communities where school dropout rates are high and jobs are hard to find.

Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Larry Mazur, who has served with virtually every gang detail within the department over the past 22 years, believes that police crackdowns can crimp gang activity, but says such efforts must be followed by intense community involvement.

The tall, plain-speaking supervisor has helped coordinate every Operation Hammer that has come down on South Los Angeles’ gang-plagued neighborhoods since the sweeps began in 1988.

Thousands of suspected gang members have been arrested on charges ranging from possession of illegal drugs to parole violation. But the operations have subjected the Police Department to complaints from residents and even some law enforcement authorities who say the tactic indiscriminately sweeps communities and gives some black and Latino youths a police record they don’t deserve.

Q: Exactly what is Operation Hammer and how does it work?

A: It is an all-out department effort to make the streets safer for at least that night.

We’ll have sometimes hundreds of uniformed, experienced officers directed to go into certain targeted areas where most of the gang drive-by shootings and murders are occurring.

These officers stop and interview individuals, and if it is found they are dealing drugs or drinking alcohol or disturbing the peace, the officers will use all legal methods to get these individuals off the streets.

Q: Operation Hammer, which has caused considerable resentment in certain communities, has failed to put a dent in the rising number of gang killings, which are expected to reach a record 600 countywide by the end of 1990. What is your argument for continuing these sweeps? A: They do breed resentment, and that is a problem because we don’t have any community relations-type officers to tell the people about the positive aspects of the hammer.

If we had such a special group of officers, I think the program would be better sold than it is. . . .

It is important for people to know there is a plan--we target certain gangs. It is not just arbitrarily going around and sweeping the streets. They have been very successful. Maybe 500 gang members are arrested and nobody dies that night.

Q: Where does the overall community fit into the hammer strategy? A: The idea is to bring notice to the community that on this day we are going to do something about gangs.

Maybe we should also ask (the community): Tomorrow, what are you going to do about gangs? What are the schools going to about gangs on the third day? What are churches going to do about it on the fourth day? What are business owners going to do about it on the fifth day? What are parents going to do on the sixth day?

If all those other people are just sitting there waiting for another hammer, well, nothing is going to get done.

Q: In an ideal world, what would be your ultimate solution to the gang problem?

A: I think parents should be more involved in hammering their kids to get out of gangs. They have to have the nerve to tell their kid, “You are in a gang and I don’t like it. Get out of it or get out of the house.”

I wish we had the (military) draft back. If we had the draft back we probably wouldn’t be in this situation right now because it gets people into the system. They would go into the military, learn something, see a little of the world and then have something to fall back on instead of hanging around the neighborhoods.

Q: Why haven’t police been able to galvanize residents in even some of the most violent neighborhoods to fight gangs? A: A large segment of the community is living in fear. They are afraid of going to a park that gang members . . . claim as their turf. But instead of staying in their houses, maybe they should try to have neighborhood meetings and try to find a way to regain power.

Q: Why are gang drive-by shootings taking an increasing toll on children and innocent bystanders?

A: The drive-by, or ambush, which is a better term, has come to be an act of cowardice. It apparently has something to do with someone proving himself as a man to his gang.

But in essence, it is an act of stupidity because we have a very high clearance (arrest) rate on these crimes that varies from 70% to 80%.

Q: What is your greatest frustration?

A: The apathy in some communities. I am in absolute shock that I don’t see things being done in a neighborhood, where, for example, people have been shot.

Yet I’ve seen neighborhoods where there have been two or three people killed. A few minutes later, neighbors hose down the street and life goes on as if nothing happened.

Q: What is your prognosis for Los Angeles? A: This year is going to be unbelievable. In Central Bureau alone, the five divisions in downtown Los Angeles will have over 150 gang murders.

Northeast Division had a 150% increase this year in gang murders. Newton, Hollenbeck and Rampart divisions have all had large increases, too.

I think it is as bad as it can get. But I said that last year and the year before.

We are in a period of transition. Some inner-city gangs that were fighting over rock cocaine are finding the drug harder to get. So, gangs are returning to the old-fashioned turf wars of the 1970s.

Asian and white gangs are flexing their muscles more and more in Los Angeles and Orange counties. That is a problem because our police recruitment in the Asian community has been rather slow, but we need them because they understand Asian culture and can help us establish rapport in these communities.

Q: What else can the Police Department do?

A: Our jails are full. What more can you ask of police? We’ve done our part; now I would hope other people would do their part. If there is a war around you, you’ve got to do something.

Sure jobs are hard to find. But employers should take that courageous step and hire gang members and give them a chance.