Crime Prevention

Hilda Samayoa did something a few weeks ago that would have been highly unusual in her South Los Angeles neighborhood not too long ago: She called police to report that a gang had set up shop in a nearby house. She did so, in part, because of growing confidence among residents that the Los Angeles Police Department will help them out. Given that distrust between the community and police has historically run deep -- and lingers today -- police are still surprised when they get a call like hers.

The Los Angeles Police Department has created a special rapid-response unit to combat gang violence by "flooding" neighborhoods after an incident to prevent gang retaliation, part of an increased anti-gang effort announced by city leaders Thursday. Police Chief William J. Bratton also has combined the narcotics division and gang division to allow detectives to better target gangs that support themselves through trafficking drugs and guns. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said gang prevention and intervention counselors from the city's gang reduction and youth development programs would work with police.

Orange County needs to do a better job of keeping youths of out gangs, even if that means beginning prevention work in elementary school, according to a grand jury report released Tuesday. The county also needs to better educate parents on how to deal with at-risk children and work on getting various agencies to better coordinate their anti-gang programs. County statistics show that the number of gang members under the age of 14 more than quadrupled -- from 64 to 276 -- between 2003 and 2007.

The boys had made no effort to hide the shotgun, so it was found, loaded, right where they'd left it, on the top bunk in their bedroom, next to a pile of clothes and two school books, "Decimals" and "The Language of Literature." The LAPD had pulled up to the little house near midnight, with the boys in the back of two squad cars. There had been gunfire in the area, near Vernon Avenue, and the brothers had been picked up during a street sweep. They were known to the police; the older one had been in the Barrio Mojados gang for four years and walked with a slight limp after being shot by rivals.

Responding to a long-running pattern of child abuse deaths that might have been prevented, Los Angeles County supervisors unanimously ordered a renewed attempt Tuesday to ease communication among agencies that deal with troubled families. The order calls for an interlinked computer system that would expand child abuse investigators' ability to access records showing a family's criminal, educational and medical histories, including critical clues about dangers faced by children. Child advocates have pushed for such reforms for more than 18 years, to little avail.

It's 2 a.m., and four young Guardian Angels trot in tight formation through the deserted streets of a Tokyo neighborhood wearing combat boots, military fatigues and the group's trademark red berets. Suddenly, the screeching of wheels breaks the silence. Then--bang!--something explodes, and the jittery crime fighters dive for cover. Was that a gunshot? A bomb? Seconds later, after a few more sharp bursts accompanied by the titters of teenagers, the Angels relax.

On late Sunday afternoons, the traffic along Crenshaw Boulevard slows to a crawl, signaling the start of a dramatic transformation. That's when the Sunday churchgoers and shoppers grow scarce along the famed strip and throngs of raucous young people hit the street--cruising and blasting their stereos with no particular place to go. As neighbors cringe, more than 1,000 cruisers roll in from miles around to parade up and down and see and be seen on the boulevard they have nicknamed the 'Shaw.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles has been told by an appellate court that it cannot proceed with a $24-million program to start issuing new high-security driver's licenses. As a result, the department is preparing a contingency plan that may involve scrapping the controversial contract and issuing a new call for bids on the project, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Saturday night cruising in Jean Patton's Balboa Peninsula neighborhood used to be so bad that a trip to the grocery store meant getting out her old three-speed bicycle and pedaling alongside rows of idling cars. "You had all these kids in their cars honking horns, shouting, cranking up the music. . . . ," Patton said. "It was the summer ritual." Not anymore.

A group of youngsters in a city-sponsored gang-prevention program were rewarded for their diligence with two days of sun and surf this week, plus recognition from law enforcement officers and city officials. Community Services Program Inc., a joint effort of San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point, works with schools, community groups and law enforcement agencies to prevent gang violence and drug abuse among youth. About 300 children 9 to 17 years old are enrolled.