Officials Pledge War on Gangs : Law enforcement: District attorney and police chiefs form committee to coordinate new strategy.

Citing a disturbing increase in gang activity, top Ventura County law-enforcement officials on Friday pledged to crack down on gangs like they never have before.

At the county government center, the district attorney and police chiefs unveiled a master plan to unite police agencies throughout the county in a coordinated war against the growing gang problem.

The Ventura County Gang Strategy, as the new effort is called, advocates a two-pronged approach to fighting gangs, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said.

“A harsh, punitive approach” will be directed at hard-core gang members, Bradbury said, and “a preventive approach” will be aimed at youths who may be at risk for joining gangs.

Police said that gang activity has steadily increased over the past five years, with more than 2,000 gang members in 50 gangs operating in the county today. Since 1989, gangs have been linked to at least five killings. And last year members were responsible for 70% to 85% of the county’s juvenile court cases.

Law-enforcement officials point out that the problem is not as menacing as the situation in Los Angeles. But they believe they need to take decisive action now to staunch the flow of big-city gang activity spilling over the county line.

“We don’t want it to get out of hand in Ventura County,” Bradbury said. “We’re right on the cusp now.”

An 11-page report issued by the Ventura County Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee contains 32 recommendations in areas of prevention, enforcement, prosecution and training in the heightened war on gangs.

Most of the recommendations, such as school programs aimed at gang prevention, are now being implemented in some departments throughout the county, said Ventura Police Chief Richard Thomas, chairman of the committee.

“The purpose of this report was to unite us in our purpose against the gang menace . . . to get a big picture of what’s going on in the county,” Thomas said. “We are going to be going after gangs like never before.”

Eventually all the police departments in the county will use the strategy outlined in the report, Thomas said. He did not know how much it would cost, or how long it would take.

“Street gangs will be one of the biggest law-enforcement issues in the ‘90s,” he said. “We probably won’t be able to stop it, but we can keep it from getting worse.”

The committee’s report recommends developing a countywide definition of a gang, as well as a countywide computer system for gang-related information. Much of the strategy aims at preventing youths from joining gangs, using programs based in the schools, churches and recreation departments.

Other recommendations include:

* Establishing a hot line at each police department for reporting gang information and graffiti.

* Developing parenting classes in every community that would be tailored to the needs of parents of youths at risk for joining gangs.

* Funding specialized units in each police department that would concentrate on gangs.

* Developing a procedure for “flagging” gang-related or gang-involved crimes, with special attention given to filing and subsequent prosecution.

* Creating a training program to develop awareness of gang issues among police officers, with emphasis on identification of gang members and sensitizing police officers to the social and cultural issues associated with gangs.

* Creating a citizens’ advisory panel to funnel information to the Ventura County Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee.

Lonnie Miramontes, director of community services for El Concilio del Condado de Ventura, a Latino-rights group in Oxnard, said he hopes that teen-agers will be appointed to the citizens’ advisory group.

“A community is not just made up of law enforcement,” said Miramontes, who works with gang members and youths at risk for joining gangs. “If it doesn’t have the representation of the community, it wouldn’t get community support. You need to have community support.”

Thomas said a steering committee for the law-enforcement coordinating committee will be appointed in about three months. After that, he said, the citizens’ panel will be formed.

“It’s going to be a war,” Bradbury said, “for the hearts and minds of kids.”