COUNTYWIDE : Countywide Gang Task Force Urged

Saying that the county’s gang problem “is escalating at an alarming rate,” the Orange County Grand Jury on Wednesday issued a report recommending the formation of a countywide gang task force.

“The gang problem in Orange County . . . (is) one of the major public safety concerns in the county,” the report says.

According to the report, a task force should be formed including both county and city law enforcement agencies, and it should develop an “intelligence data-file” system that would allow for the sharing of information on gangs and their members among the different agencies.

During the grand jury’s investigation, it gathered gang-related statistics and interviewed dozens of police officers from throughout the county. The effectiveness of anti-gang legislation and individual law enforcement task forces were also examined.

Some of the grand jury’s findings:

* The district attorney filed 2,285 cases against gang members in 1990, an 80% increase over 1989.

* The number of gang-related deaths increased 75% in 1990 over 1989. No figures were given. * There are about 12,000 gang members in the county, with the heaviest gang activity occurring in Santa Ana. The report, however, warns that every community in the county is affected by gang activity.

The grand jury initiated the report to assess the gang situation in the county and to “bring the magnitude of the problem to the attention of Orange County officials and citizens.”

The report also recommends expanding the County Probation Department’s Gang Suppression Violence Unit, which patrols the county looking for gang members violating their probations, and increased staffing of gang task forces within individual police departments.

Additionally, the report suggests starting programs at local schools aimed at gang prevention.