Solutions Elude O.C.’s 1st Anti-Gang Summit : Violence: About 1,000 people, young and old, found it much easier to assess the problems than find answers.

Police chiefs and business leaders joined parents and teens in baggy jeans Tuesday in a collective cry for help at Orange County’s first anti-gang summit.

Drawing more than 1,000 people, the gathering was a scene where South Coast Plaza executive David Grant found himself seated next to former Crip leader known as “Godfather OG.”

Bible-toting young gang members called for “understanding,” while Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) advocated a heavy police hammer to strike fear in those occupying local “gang fortresses.”

Euiwon Chough just wanted some answers.

“What I want to hear,” said Chough, of Anaheim Hills, whose brother was cut down by gang bullets last month, “is that there will be consequences for the violence caused by these people. I haven’t heard any of that yet. We have to make that point clear.”

Long on goodwill, Tuesday’s half-day conference did not produce any immediate solutions. But organizers said it was at least a starting point. Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi said the meeting “represented the best of America” working at the grass-roots level to preserve “neighborhood freedom.”

“We are at a crossroads at this point in time,” said County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez. “We can either ignore the problem or suffer the long-term consequences. The turnout today is a clear reflection of a people’s concern and desire to do something about it.”

The sheer number of participants who crammed the cavernous meeting hall at Anaheim’s Inn at the Park Hotel was overwhelming to some politicians who attended. “This is definitely a wake-up call,” said County Supervisor William G. Steiner. “People here are outraged at what’s happening in our streets.”

Authorities estimate those streets are now crowded with about 17,000 identified gang members, representing virtually every area of Orange county. Already, gang violence has claimed a record-breaking 60 lives this year.

The grim statistics, which seem to worsen each weekend, prompted local officials to organize the countywide conference in an attempt to better understand what’s going on.

However, measuring the destruction and lives lost has proved much easier than finding ways to stem the tide.

Broken into round-table brainstorming sessions, delegates talked about dozens of possible solutions: more mentoring programs, stricter gun-control laws, community pride and more police officers. But at table after table, among virtually every class of people, the call went out for parents to take more responsibility for their children.

The ideas are expected to be forwarded to Orange County’s newly created Gang Prevention Alliance for future planning.

“We used to make mistakes as kids,” said Sal Garcia, a Garden Grove Unified School District psychologist. “But those mistakes did not cost us our lives. Now, those mistakes are costing the lives of our children. The parents need to get involved.”

Said Mary Lara, a summit discussion group leader from Stanton: “Parents need to reach out to their children. They have to know somebody cares. It’s just so sad to see so many children involved in this. But we can’t adopt every kid in trouble.”

For virtually every participant Tuesday, the conference did not provide nearly enough time to produce workable strategies to combat such a widespread plague.

“Time is just so compressed and information is coming so fast and furious, I’m not so sure we can bring it all into focus in this amount of time,” said South Coast Plaza’s Grant. “It’s like a tidal wave of information.”

Presiding over discussions at Table 10--one group in a sea of tables--Grant said his group was grateful for the experiences shared by “Godfather OG,” the husky 40-year-old former Crip leader from Los Angeles.

Grant said he attended because of his concern about crime on the streets in nearly every area of the county.

“Coming here, I didn’t know what to expect,” Grant said. “I’ve never sat next to a Crip before. It’s a real sobering experience.”

Although gangs have been entrenched in some communities for years, Tuesday may have been the first time that police chiefs, social workers, probation officers and council members from virtually every city came together in the same room to exchange ideas. Although youth delegates and gang members were a decided minority at Tuesday’s meeting, Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder declared their presence “invaluable.”

Among those providing the perspective from the street was 29-year-old Carlos Luna of Santa Ana. He clutched his Bible like a life preserver, telling his discussion group why he only left his gang earlier this month.

“I just got tired of all the madness,” Luna said. “I’m going to change my life around. You get caught up in it, you know, and you can’t get out. I’m hanging on to the Lord now to show me the way.”

In his youth, Luna said there was no time for the Boy Scouts, the Little League or other programs. “I was a rebellious kid, and my parents couldn’t do a thing with me. This is a corrupt world, and I got caught up in it. But I’m going to make it. God is opening a lot of doors for me.”

His hope for the summit: “They’ve got to catch kids early if they want to do something with them. I was 11 when I joined (a gang), and it seems like I’ve been in and out of jail all of my life. I’m really tired.”

Wieder, who organized Tuesday’s conference, said delegates such as Luna and Godfather OG made the conference more meaningful for other attendees, who otherwise might never have sat down with a gang member.

Based on Tuesday’s turnout, Wieder said she would consider making the conference an annual event.

“It has become clear that Orange County must change the climate, and I don’t mean the weather, to empower our residents to put an end to gang violence. Let us all look forward to . . . a generation of youth with hope for the future,” she said.

Said Rohrabacher, the only member of the county congressional delegation to attend: “We’ve got to stand together as a county. If it’s one thing we don’t want in Orange County is to see ourselves become another L.A.”

Special Report: Troubled Turf

Sunday: The countywide growth of gangs and its toll.

Monday: Street talk about living in the line of fire.

Tuesday: Leaders, residents, gang members seek answers.

Today: Coverage of Orange County’s first anti-gang summit.

Thursday: What works in fighting back against gangs.