Officers Dress Up in Disguises to Unmask Dangers of Gangs

The two “gangs” were to meet at noon. The Thunderheads and the Snakes would square off on the playground, settling their scores once and for all. In preparation, members scrawled their insignias on notebooks, daring the other side to mess with them.

But these weren’t ordinary gang members: They didn’t wear gang colors. They didn’t carry weapons. None were more than 5 feet tall.

They were fifth-graders at Lanai Road Elementary School in Encino, 10-year-olds in the earliest stages of imitating gang members.

So Principal Ronald Ferrier, who caught wind of the rumble, was determined to “nip this thing in the bud.” He called in a Los Angeles police gang intervention unit to confront the Snakes and Thunderheads--in real gang attire.

Dressed in high top sneakers, baggy pants and dark sunglasses, officers Tony Newsom and Michael Piceno showed up at the school Tuesday.

“Who’s in a gang here? I heard there were some gang members here,” Newsom said as the students sat perfectly still, mouths agape.

“Who are the leaders?” Piceno asked. “I want to talk to the leaders.”

“If you guys are from a gang,” Newsom said. “You better act like you’re from a gang. Are you prepared to fight us?”

“You’re too big,” one of the fifth-graders finally said.

Though many gang prevention programs target elementary school children, Los Angeles police only recently began trying the tactic of posing as gang members. In less than 10 minutes, the officers seemed to persuade the wanna-bes that playing gang was a dangerous game.

“We just did it to hang out. It was all bluff,” confessed 10-year-old Corey Emmert after the officers took off their costumes, Superman-style, and revealed their identities.

“I learned not to be in a gang,” said Andy Mechammil, the leader of the Snakes. “It’s bad for you and you could die.”

The kids were not the only ones shocked by the encounter. Marlene Mechammil, Andy’s mother, was stunned to learn that her son was the leader of the Snakes.

“ ‘Not my Andy,’ I thought. He’s not into that,” she said Wednesday. “It scared the hell out of me. I didn’t think these things were happening at elementary schools.”