Police Arrest 70 in Sweep of Violators : Enforcement: Law officers from state, county, seven cities target probationers and parolees thought to be members of street gangs.

Dozens of law enforcement officers from several police departments fanned out across Orange County over the weekend in a major anti-gang sweep that resulted in the arrests of more than 70 suspected gang members.

Most of those arrested in the gang sweep on Friday and Saturday nights had violated parole or probation or had outstanding arrest warrants against them, Garden Grove Police Lt. John Woods said.

Organized and led by the Garden Grove Police Department, the joint operation included the Sheriff’s Department and police forces from Anaheim, Santa Ana, Orange, Fountain Valley, Westminster and Huntington Beach. Officers from the California Youth Authority and the county Probation Department were also involved, Woods said.

“The idea behind the operation is that gang members hanging out at night will sooner or later end up being a suspect or a victim in a gang-related crime,” Woods said. “We’re trying to have an impact on local street gangs.”

Woods said officers had been planning the operation for a month. He said they searched police records to identify gang suspects with outstanding arrest warrants and they worked with the CYA and probation personnel to identify those wanted for violating parole or probation.

With the suspects’ identities established, the officers began locating the individuals so they could be picked up when the sweep began, Woods said. Most of the probation and parole violations involved such activities as associating with known gang members, staying out past curfew or committing petty crimes, he said.

Others were arrested for actions that officers witnessed as they patrolled the streets during the sweep, Woods said.

Two people were arrested with stolen property from a commercial burglary that had occurred minutes earlier, Woods said. Others were booked for possession of narcotics or being under the influence of drugs, and at least two were arrested for having illegal weapons, he said.

It could not be learned Sunday night how many of those arrested were still in custody and how many had been released.

But Woods said most minors who are picked up and identified as gang members are detained in Juvenile Hall, at least until their first court appearance and bail hearing. As a result, such a sweep can provide an effective way to get young gang members off the streets, at least for a short while, he said.

“Unfortunately, our justice system is set up so that it can’t detain everybody,” Woods said.

For the adults, most probation or parole violations result in immediate detention, he said.

“If people have done something even semi-serious, so that they are on probation, by the time we pick them up on a violation they’re probably not going down to Lucky for a quart of milk,” Woods said.