Alliances Needed to Curb Gang Growth : * No One Community Can Fight Them Alone Because Today Their Turf Is Sprawling

Gangs have long been a part of urban life in Orange County, but never have they been as widespread, organized and violent as they are today.

Where once they were most evident in the central county areas, such as Santa Ana and Garden Grove, they now also prey upon residents and neighborhoods in newer South County communities, considered more upscale. Even planned-community cities like Irvine, where gang activity is still relatively small, report a growing problem.

The reality is that no one community can fight gangs alone, because today’s gangs no longer claim just a few city blocks as their turf. Their organizations often spread out to include several communities--and these communities must join forces to react as one.

Fortunately, some officials have come to recognize that. Last weekend--under the leadership of Gaddi H. Vasquez, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, and the Orange County League of California Cities--representatives from law enforcement, the schools and the cities got together for a summit on how to deal with the county’s 130 gangs and 12,000 gang members, their increasing drug connections and the violence they visit on the county. In some neighborhoods the sound of shots is commonplace, heard every day at any hour. More frightening is that too often the bullets, shot indiscriminately, pierce the walls of homes, striking innocent victims inside, or men, women and children on the street.

Some of the approaches discussed at the summit were: establishing anti-gang units in every police department in the county, expanding the gang member database so it is available to all agencies around the clock and organizing efforts through a countywide gang task force patterned after the successful countywide drug suppression program.

The meeting is a welcome first step. But it must be followed by action. And what also must be recognized is that police efforts in the streets and courts, no matter how tough they may be, are not the sole answer. Increased gang membership and activity more often is a symptom of underlying social problems, and those problems must be attacked too--and not only by police but by city, county, school and community resources.

More jail cells are needed. But so is more attention, more coordinated effort and more social programs. Without them, we will just have more gangs, more violence, more crime, more fear and more regrets that we did not do those things sooner.