Roadblocks to Curb Gangs to Be Set Up in Paramount : Crime: Checkpoints will be similar to ones that target drunk drivers. Civil rights groups worry about abuses.

In an unusual move, sheriff’s deputies in Paramount will set up roadblocks next week targeting gang members the way other areas have targeted drunk drivers.

The “informational checkpoints” in the small city in southeast Los Angeles County were prompted by an increase in gang activity. Paramount had 22 gang-related shootings in July, including one murder and three attempted murders, and authorities said three gangs were responsible for most of the attacks.

“We’ve had so many shootings here lately it’s getting so the people are screaming,” said City Councilman Henry Harkema, who has lived in Paramount since 1935. “They can stop me any time, any place, and I don’t resent it as long as it improves my safety.”

The roadblocks will be similar to the sobriety checkpoints used throughout the country, but deputies in Paramount are setting their sights on drive-by shooters.

When the first checkpoint goes up, probably next Friday, it apparently will be the first time in the county, and possibly the state, that a checkpoint has been used against gangs, Sheriff’s Department and Paramount officials said.

The city of 47,000 residents, 60% of whom are Latino, contracts with the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement. The idea for a checkpoint came up at a meeting lastmonth between city and sheriff’s officials, prompted by the increase in gang crime.

Sheriff’s Lt. Robert J. Briggs said the checkpoints are not designed to single out minorities. At least one civil rights lawyer says the plan could lead to abuses.

About 10 deputies will be at a checkpoint, passing out flyers to the drivers they stop and seeking information on gang activity and suggestions on how to stop it, Briggs said. Deputies do not plan to routinely search cars, he said.

Sheriff’s and city officials hope the presence of the roadblocks will deter gang activity in the 4.8-square-mile city. Briggs predicted that there will be few arrests at the checkpoints.

“It’s not intended to be a fishing expedition, ‘Let’s see your license,’ that type of thing,” Briggs said. “But if the deputy making the stop were to see drugs or a weapon in plain view, then of course we’re going to pull that vehicle over.”

Times and locations of the checkpoints will be announced before the program begins, Briggs said. Also, a warning sign will be posted ahead of each checkpoint enabling drivers to take an alternate route.

American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Carol Sobel said the plan smacks of repressive police-state tactics. “There has to be probable cause to stop somebody,” Sobel said. “If what they’re looking for is information, they should go door to door and drop (the flyers) in their mail.”

In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police may set up roadblocks on highways and routinely stop motorists to see if they are sober. The ACLU had challenged the Michigan checkpoint law.

Sobel said the ruling still requires that the roadblocks be used to combat a specific crime, such as drunk driving, not to gather general information on gang members or crimes that may be committed in the future.

In addition, Sobel said deputies may be inclined to stop motorists who avoid the checkpoints, assuming that they are guilty of a crime.

“It’s an invitation to create a situation where a whole class of people will be subject to further police questioning simply because they tried to avoid what is an unlawful stop in the first place,” Sobel said.

Briggs said deputies will follow guidelines from the state attorney general’s office for sobriety checkpoints to avoid legal snags. Paramount City Atty. Maurice F. O’Shea reviewed and approved the checkpoint plan, Harkema said.

Briggs also said deputies will use a numerical formula, such as stopping every motorist or every third motorist, so as not to single out minorities or youths. “We’re not using this as a harassment tool,” he said.

Officials plan to operate a single checkpoint one or two evenings a week in Paramount for four to six weeks. The first will be on Downey Avenue, Somerset Boulevard or Rosecrans Avenue, Briggs said. If the program is successful, it may be expanded to several other cities in the southeast area of Los Angeles County, Briggs said.

Several Latino leaders in the area said such checkpoints could be a constructive tool for stopping gang activity in the area, but they were wary as well.

“There’s nothing bad about that as long as it’s all dealt evenly, as long as it’s not: ‘This guy is brown-eyed. Why don’t we check him over? And this guy is blue-eyed. Let’s not check him over,’ ” said Ramona Roman, a resident of nearby Norwalk and a founding member of a local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

The Sheriff’s Department’s plan represents a different and less aggressive approach than that used by the Los Angeles Police Department to combat gang activity in recent years.

In a series of LAPD anti-gang crackdowns called Operation Hammer, police task forces made sweeps in areas of heavy gang activity, arresting suspects on offenses ranging from traffic warrants to murder.

More recently, the Police Department has been using Operation Cul-de-Sac against gangs. Police erected a series of barricades to slow the flow of traffic--and decrease the number of drive-by shootings--in one of the city’s most violent neighborhoods.

The Police Department also flooded the area with officers on bicycles and promoted neighborhood programs.