Head of Anti-Gang Unit Denies Operating Police ‘Snitch Network’ : Law enforcement: He demands a retraction after a black community newspaper makes the accusation in a commentary.

The head of the Community Youth Gang Services Project on Wednesday demanded that a black community newspaper retract a commentary that accused the respected anti-gang organization of operating a “snitch network” for police.

The organization’s youth counselors have received two threats--including one involving an alleged bomb--that may be related to the article published in the Los Angeles Sentinel on June 20, said Steve Valdivia, executive director of the gang project.

“To gang members, the lowest form of human life is a snitch,” said Valdivia, who denied the allegation. “To label us as snitches is very dangerous.”

After a press conference at a South Los Angeles church, Valdivia demanded that the author of the unsigned commentary be named and that the Sentinel publish a retraction.

Founded in 1981, the nonprofit community youth project runs a gang diversion program that targets South Los Angeles, East Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley and Wilmington. Its counselors make direct contact with gang members.

Kenneth R. Thomas, publisher and chief executive officer of the Sentinel, said he will not run a retraction. But he said a “clarification,” indicating that the commentary did not necessarily represent the views of the weekly, has been published in the paper’s latest edition, which hit the streets Wednesday.

“I doubt very seriously that anybody’s safety has been endangered by anything in the newspaper,” Thomas said. “If they’re not a snitch then the people will know it. If they are, they will suffer the consequences by virtue of their own actions, not by something that’s printed in the newspaper.”

Thomas said he obtained the commentary from a man who was passing out leaflets near the newspaper’s office.

“I don’t know who the author is,” the publisher said. “I got it off of the street. After editing it some, we published it as a commentary to stimulate interest and thought.”

The commentary was mostly a scathing attack on the Police Department’s ongoing Operation Cul-de-Sac, which was initiated about 18 months ago to reduce the number of drive-by shootings and drug dealing in one of Los Angeles’ most violent neighborhoods.

As part of the operation, police have barricaded streets in a one-square-mile area of South Los Angeles near Jefferson High School. Police say the wrought-iron gates are intended to reduce traffic and help create a sense of community.

Ten officers patrol the area on bicycles in an effort to develop rapport with residents. They also have gone door to door pushing academic and athletic programs for area youths and Neighborhood Watch programs, said Sgt. Larry Tate, who heads the unit.

The Police Department also contracts with Community Youth Gang Services to organize the community and to encourage cooperation with police. The organization receives about $60,000 a year to put on “Family Days” at local parks and to stage marches and rallies against drugs and gangs. It also provides gang awareness seminars and tutors for youths who are struggling in school, Valdivia said.

Last week, police announced a 67% drop in gang-related drive-by shootings in the area, a 10% reduction in street crimes and a 14% drop in school truancy.

The Sentinel commentary objected to the program, saying, “virtually any part of life behind the walls will be subject to invasion, involvement and control by the LAPD.”

The commentary said police will rely on community groups to supply intelligence.

“Operation Cul-de-Sac has already hired Community Youth Gang Services to operate this snitch network,” it read.

The Sentinel has not taken a position on the Cul-de-Sac program. Thomas said he had no evidence that Community Youth Gang Service counselors were informants.

Valdivia said his counselors do not give police specific information about gang members, but often discuss overall strategy on how to curb gang activity with officers. He said his organization may tip police when counselors hear of a pending attack. But again, no names or specifics are given.

“If you get into a situation where you know for a fact a homicide could be prevented, like any good citizen, you say (to police), can you be present at the location,” Valdivia said.

Tate also denied that the organization provided police with informants, a rumor that is not new to gang neighborhoods.

Valdivia declined to provide further details of the threats, saying that to do so would endanger his counselors.

But one counselor, Theron Cook, said the commentary has him on edge.

“You have to take a second look,” he said. “Then you have to have the heart to do the job.”