Gang Expert Hanging Up His Spurs

Wes McBride spent the last 28 years learning everything there is to know about gangs and then sharing it with other law enforcement officers.

He picked up details about the lives of thugs and killers. He kept track of youths struggling to save themselves from the street life. He pioneered a system used statewide to monitor gang activity. He even co-wrote a book on gangs often used by investigators and educators.

McBride, who retired as a sergeant last week after more than 35 years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, left with an international reputation for gang expertise.

“There are thousands of gang members, and only hundreds of them are killers. That may sound facetious, but I’m saying: Not all gang members are evil creatures,” McBride said in an interview. “You have to understand them if you’re going to work with them.”

McBride, 60, joined the Sheriff’s Department in the 1960s after serving in Vietnam with the Marines. He worked various assignments during his early years with the department.

In 1973, he became one of four deputies in the county assigned to focus on gangs.

“I walked into a world of violence and murder,” McBride said. “I had to learn gangs.”

His views evolved from seeing members as “thugs who should all be arrested” to believing that they are part of a community and should be approached as human beings, above all else.

“A lot of them are there by circumstances,” he said, referring to the challenges of poverty and other issues.

But McBride also recognized the need to gather gang intelligence and began a gang log used by sheriff’s stations, said Sgt. Steve Newman.

The log evolved into a tracking system called the Integrated Gang Information System. He later helped design and implement the Gang Reporting Evaluation and Tracking system, used across California. In turn, that system was the model for the state’s current gang-tracking system, Cal-Gangs, Newman said.

McBride also helped form the California Gang Investigators Assn., which he serves as president, and the National Alliance of Gang Investigators, to encourage sharing of information regarding gang migration.

“He is the godfather of everything we’re doing, the guru, the impetus,” said Wes Daily, a detective in New York’s Suffolk County Police Department, who is president of the East Coast Gang Investigators Assn. and the National Alliance of Gang Investigators.

Dan Nalian, a gang detective in the West Covina Police Department, said McBride earned such respect and praise through his hard work.

“He was tireless, always tracking [gangs],” Nalian said. “He’s known nationwide because of his efforts.”

McBride worked diligently to understand gang members’ lives, to “walk in their shoes,” said Sheriff’s Capt. Willie Miller. His approach caught gang members off guard, and often made them more open to giving up information, she said.

“His people skills, I think, helped him tremendously,” Miller said.

Even with a jovial and laid-back personality, McBride nonetheless arrested hundreds of gang members during his career. His easygoing nature let him learn of dangerous activities occurring within gangs.

“Any time anyone had any question about gangs, he was the man to go to,” said Lt. Mike Ford, who works in the Safe Streets program, the department’s anti-gang operation. “He could recite how they operated, their financial status, their M.O., everything. Even on specific gang members. It was always very impressive to me.”

In 1997, the U.S. State Department sent McBride to South Africa to provide recommendations on how that country could deal with violent street gangs. He traveled to Japan in 1998 to instruct law enforcement personnel in gang awareness.

“He is a pleasant voice that would tell people the truth,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Rifkin. “He was never afraid to voice his opinion if he felt it would make people aware.”

Miller said the department has more than 200 officers dedicated to addressing gang problems. There are an estimated 95,765 members of about 1,300 gangs in Los Angeles County.

Department officials acknowledge that crimes committed by gang members remain a serious problem. There were 520 gang-related deaths in the county in 2000, according to Sheriff’s Department statistics. Figures for last year are not final, but the number of deaths is expected to increase because of a recent wave of gang-related crimes, Newman said.

After all his efforts, McBride acknowledged that law enforcement “may never catch up to the killings.”

“We don’t solve the social conditions as a nation that tend to create gangs,” he said. “We don’t solve illiteracy or poverty. How do you make up for parents not caring for their kids? All we can do is be there for the aftermath. There were gangs before me, and there will be gangs after me. One person is not going to solve the problem.”

Ultimately, the time came for McBride to move on, if not completely. In retirement, he plans to write another book about gangs and continue to serve as a consultant on gang issues.

McBride, who lives in Orange County, also said he wants to relax and spend more time with his wife, Aileen.

“We started a lot of programs. We saved a lot of kids. We put a lot of bad guys in jail, and I’m proud of that,” McBride said.

“I just did what I could. Some programs worked, some didn’t, but you have to try.”