Countywide : County Alliance to Fight Gang Activity

Responding to a staggering increase in violent crime committed by gang members who now number more than 16,000 in Orange County, supervisors Tuesday formed an unprecedented alliance of law enforcement, education and business leaders.

The union, expected to draw volunteers from community groups to staff such things as youth outreach services, will be asked to formulate a countywide strategy for presentation at a November summit meeting.

“Gangs and their violent ways have touched every segment of our county,” Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. “Daily, we see media reports of their violent and deadly actions where innocent people are seriously injured and killed. . . . We’ve reached a critical point.”

Tuesday’s action brought Walters, Sheriff Brad Gates, county Probation Department chief Michael Schumacher, Santa Ana neighborhood leader Jim Walker and local business officials to the Hall of Administration, where each pledged to bring more pressure to bear in “a war that continues to escalate.”

Just last year, Gates said, gang violence was responsible for at least 45 deaths in Orange County, and the district attorney’s office has reported that gang-related prosecutions in 1992 had more than doubled, from 1,268 cases in 1991 to 2,900 last year.

“This is an extraordinary step we are taking,” Gates said. “This will show the public that we are unified. If we stand together and hold hands on this, we will win.”

Officials said a key element in the strategy would rely on the participation of neighborhood groups which could work harder to instill community pride and possibly thwart the recruitment of young gang members.

“From bucket brigades that take down graffiti in minutes to outreach programs that provide youth with an extended family, neighbors helping neighbors can turn the tide of gang violence,” said Walker, past president of the Sandpointe Neighborhood Assn. in Santa Ana.

In a report submitted to the Board of Supervisors, county officials included among their most troubling findings that gang violence was presenting an increasing threat to students on school campuses.

In the first months of the 1992-93 school year, for example, the report noted five gang-related shootings that occurred near school campuses during school hours or immediately after dismissal.