Sheriff Plans Anti-Gang Letter Campaign : Law enforcement: The messages will alert parents that their children may be subject to unwelcome influences. If asked, officers will come to the residence to discuss the situation.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department is planning to launch a letter-writing campaign warning hundreds of parents that their children are suspected of affiliating with gangs, authorities announced Monday.

About 50 letters will first be mailed out to minors identified as hard-core gang members, said Lt. Bill Edwards, who heads the department’s intelligence unit. Additional notices will be sent at two-week intervals to families of minors suspected of gang affiliations.

“I think most parents would tend to downplay the involvement of gangs and their children,” Edwards said. “There’s probably a significant number that are unaware of what their children are doing. Hopefully we can get some impact by getting parents involved.”

Sheriff John V. Gillespie has approved the concept of the program, but the final draft of the letter, which will bear his signature, has not been decided or approved, Edwards said.

The prevention program is scheduled to run in unincorporated areas of the county and in the five cities that contract with the Sheriff’s Department for police protection: Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Fillmore, Ojai and Moorpark, Edwards said.

Sheriff’s officials will reconsider the plan if cities have objections to the campaign, which involves no costs other than the price of stamps, Edwards said.

The letters will alert parents that their children may be subject to the influence of a gang and ask them to call the Sheriff’s Department if they want to discuss the situation, Edwards said. Officers will make house calls to talk to the parents, recounting what they have observed and explaining why they believe the child may be prone to gang involvement.

“We’re not alleging that the individual is a gang member,” Edwards said. “Essentially, we’re going to say that we had contact with their son or daughter under these circumstances that suggest gang influence, and we’d like to talk to you.”

Officers also will advise parents of gang activity in the community and on the types of clothes gang members wear.

“Essentially, we would like parents to exercise control about who the minor associates with, where he goes and what hours he’s out,” Edwards said.

Twelve deputies based in different stations throughout the county have been trained in gang identification and will report names of people who they believe might benefit from letters. They will then take time from normal duties to talk to parents about how to prevent their children from getting involved with gangs, Edwards said.

Minors at risk will be identified through a variety of criteria, including their attendance at gang-related events and clothing such as Raiders hats and jackets, Edwards said. In addition, deputies will consider admissions of gang membership and information from confidential sources, such as schools.

Sheriff’s officials got the idea from the Los Angeles Police Department and Buena Park Police Chief Richard Tefank.

The Los Angeles Police Department, which has identified 50,000 gang members and associate members in the city, began sending out parent notification letters 10 years ago, Los Angeles Police Detective Bob Jackson said.

Jackson, who has worked gang details for 20 years, said it is difficult to say how the program has fared.

Tefank also implemented a program to write letters to parents of children believed to be prone to gang activity in 1989, while he was chief of police in Pomona. Tefank, who now lectures throughout California about dealing with gang violence, said the program has drawbacks.

It is sometimes difficult to find an address for a child, he said, and some parents simply ignore evidence of gang activity.

During the year that Tefank ran the program, about half of the 500 people who received letters attended a workshop on how to prevent gang involvement.

But, he said, just one success makes the program worthwhile.

“If you’re able to turn one kid around and prevent one homicide, then that effort is successful. The unfortunate reality that must be accepted by the community is that the problem of gang violence is not going to be stopped overnight.”

Oxnard Police Department officials said they are considering implementing a similar program. Simi Valley police, meanwhile, will assign an officer to deal with junior high school children believed to be at risk for gang involvement. The officer will also talk to parents.

Santa Paula police officers occasionally make home calls on suspected gang members or their parents. The department is starting a program this fall for people interested in learning about gang activities.

And in Santa Paula and Ventura, gang members are given notices saying that membership is illegal if they participate in criminal acts.

Times correspondent Janet Bergamo contributed to this story.