$20,000 Allocated for Anti-Gang Unit

A special unit of the Police Department will be created to fight gangs, the City Council decided this week, as it approved $20,000 for the first six months of operation.

Councilman Michael J. Doyle, who introduced the plan, said police captains had told him recently that a special unit would help track and combat gang activity.

“I think it’s time we did something,” Doyle said Tuesday. “The police have been out there working, but they haven’t had the opportunity to home in on one thing. I think [the unit] will make a big difference.”

The funding will pay overtime for about five officers for the gang unit for the next six months. The $20,000 will come from the city’s general fund, which officials hope to replace with federal law enforcement grants.

The team is expected to be working by about July 1. Its performance will be evaluated monthly.

“If we need to make this a long-term commitment, we will,” Mayor Tracy Wills Worley said.

Tustin is home to about 15 gangs with an estimated 500 members, according to city officials. Doyle said Tustin police told him that the city ranks fourth in gang members per capita for Orange County, although other city officials disputed that figure.

Although he approved the funding, Councilman Jim Potts said a countywide anti-gang effort would be more effective.

“If you really want to solve the gang problem, you don’t do it in Tustin,” he said, adding that when one city cracks down on gangs, the members often move to another city.

“We need a regional task force, a countywide gang unit that attacks the problem.”