Police Crack Down on Cruising

Concerned that gun-waving and beer-hurling by gangs might soon degenerate into bloodshed along busy Sunset Boulevard, nearly 60 law enforcement officers fanned out Friday night in search of cruisers looking for trouble.

Officers from the California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles Police Department, some working undercover, joined the crackdown in Hollywood and West Hollywood along the glitzy but rough boulevard, where prostitution, drunkenness and traffic congestion have long been problems. Recently, however, gang activity has added to the danger, said LAPD Capt. Patrick Findley.

“In the last month or so, we’ve seen a couple of shootings. My gang people watch it, and can see it’s escalating,” Findley said. “It’s like a powder keg, and somebody is standing right there with a match.”

The situation, particularly between Highland Avenue and Doheny Drive, degenerates into the early morning, he said.

“By 2 a.m., it really gets bad. People have a real fear of being attacked. Gang members want to fight each other. They’re hanging out of their cars yelling and throwing their gang signs,” Findley said. “What’s really concerned us is not only the amount of cruisers, but that the violence associated with it has increased.”

A year ago, officers said, there was a killing in a gas station parking lot at Sunset and Crescent Heights boulevards.

Officers on Friday night were watching for speeding, stolen cars and expired registrations. But they also were watching for people leaning from their cars, making gang signs or throwing beer bottles.

Police can’t stop people for simply looking or acting like gang members, officials said, but they can try to ensure they don’t hurt someone.

“If we stop someone because they’re wearing baggy pants or they look like gang members, someone is going to question it and say we’re just harassing them,” Findley said. “You can see the argument from both sides, but what are you going to do? You just follow the law as it’s imposed on us and go after violations.”

Police, Sgt. Steve Richards said, are “going to make it so you better be squeaky clean with your vehicle and behavior if you want to be on Sunset.”

Complaints from business owners and residents have been numerous, said Leron Gubler, president and chief executive of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

About six years ago, a similar cruising task force helped alleviate traffic and decreased crime along Hollywood Boulevard, Findley and Gubler said.

“It was extremely effective,” Gubler said. “It was so bad then we [had] shut down the boulevard around 11 p.m. It created gridlock throughout the greater Hollywood area, and the businesses weren’t happy about it.”

This time, said LAPD Cmdr. David Kalish, the crackdown will continue for “as long as necessary.”

Jim Tartan, 70, a retired filmmaker and actor, lives three houses from Sunset Boulevard near West Hollywood.

He said he has become almost inured to the sensory bombardment on weekends.

“In New Orleans, people walk around drunk. Here they drive around Sunset Boulevard,” Tartan said. “Hopefully, this task force discourages people, whether they’re gang members or not, by telling them: ‘If you’re going to come up here on this street and go vroom, vroom, vroom and screaming at other people, it’s going to be an expensive trip.”’