FULLERTON : Operation Clean-Up Campaign to Expand

Operation Clean-Up, a city-sponsored anti-gang campaign, will expand to include an area of West Fullerton, police officials said.

The program is scheduled to start April 1 in the neighborhoods bordered by Orangethorpe Avenue on the north, Gilbert Street on the east, the city limits on the south and Peckham Street on the west, Police Capt. Lee DeVore said.

Operation Clean-Up, which started in September in the Valencia/Highland area, is a joint effort by several city departments, including police, fire, maintenance services and development services. It is designed to curb gang-related violence, drug trafficking, graffiti and other crime through foot and bicycle patrols, inspection of deteriorating properties and meeting community service needs in the neighborhood.

The program will now expand to the Orangethorpe/Gilbert community, where more than 300 people gathered in the Fellowship Hall of Orangethorpe United Methodist Church last week to air their complaints to police and city officials about rising gang problems in the area.

While DeVore said the meeting was very positive, he said it had no bearing on the Police Department’s decision to expand Operation Clean-Up to the area.

The Rev. Bob Rohdenburg, minister of Orangethorpe United Methodist Church and one of the organizers of the meeting, said police have received more than 1,400 calls in the past seven months from the area.

“People are afraid to go outside their homes,” Rohdenburg said. “There’s a lot of fear among the residents here. We had to do something as a community. It was time to put our faith into action.”

So far, Operation Clean-Up has been a success, DeVore said. He added that while there has been an increase in calls to the department, the types of crimes being reported are increasingly less severe.