Supervisors Request Gang Probe Report in 60 Days

Concerned that gang violence has increased in the San Fernando Valley while overall crime has declined, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion Tuesday to investigate the problem.

The motion, proposed by 5th District Supervisor Mike Antonovich and amended by Zev Yaroslavsky, 3rd District supervisor, directs the countywide Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee to assess recent gang problems in the Valley and report to the board in 60 days.

It specifically instructs the committee--which includes Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks, Sheriff Lee Baca and Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti--to solicit input from the community-based organizations working with gangs.

The motion comes in the wake of recent reports that although crime overall in the Valley has decreased by 10%, gang crime increased 3.65% in the first six months of this year. Police have reported 15 gang-related killings so far this year in the northeast San Fernando Valley alone.

Among them was the fatal shooting July 21 of 17-year-old Giovanni Avelar next to Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in North Hills while he was walking home from Monroe High School. Neighbors said he was approached, then jumped by two known gang members before being shot by one of them with what police believe was a .22-caliber rifle.

“Gang rivalries, combined with pressure from the ‘Mexican Mafia’ over drug dealing kickbacks, have led to this increased senseless violence,” Antonovich said.

Yaroslavsky, whose son, David, is a student at Monroe High, expressed confidence in the gang peace treaty of several years ago, which he said “has been very valuable in saving lots of lives,” but he acknowledged that there is “a problem out there now.”

LAPD Capt. Sean Kane, commanding officer of the Van Nuys Operations Support Division, said that although anti-gang efforts have been ongoing, “we welcome any support we can get for that.”

“The actual percentage increase may not seem like that much to some,” he said, “but if you live and work and go to school where there is a great fear of crime, the attention being paid to this problem is both warranted and necessary.”