Gangs

A key strategy in Los Angeles' battle against street gangs -- the use of court injunctions -- has come under attack by state lawmakers who are moving to strictly limit it. The state Senate has approved a measure that would allow suspected gang members who do not commit a crime for five years to be automatically removed from civil injunctions unless prosecutors can show they remain a public threat.

Federal authorities announced indictments Monday against the reputed leaders of Mexico's Gulf cartel and its paramilitary force, the Zetas, accusing them of trafficking tons of cocaine and marijuana from South America through the Texas-Mexico border. Three of the men are identified as the "triumvirate" that manages the far-flung enterprise, dividing its territories among themselves.

Nine members and associates of a Bell Gardens street gang, including a suspected hit man for a Mexican drug cartel, have been arrested on drug trafficking and weapons charges, federal officials said Friday. The suspects -- six U.S. citizens and three illegal Mexican immigrants -- were arrested Thursday as agents served search warrants in Bell Gardens and Los Angeles, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. Their arrests culminated a nine-month investigation by the agency of the Barrio Evil 13 street gang.

Alfred Lomas stood at the front of a bus. "This," he bellowed, "is not a bus!" The driver pulled out of the Dream Center, a church ministry where Lomas directs a mobile food bank. Lomas stared into the anxious faces of congregants and do-gooders, his sunglasses hiding dark, deep-set eyes that have seen more than their share of hurt, much of it of his own making. "This," he said, "is a vehicle of hope!" The bus lurched and sighed into South Los Angeles.

It is a Sunday morning and there is still dew on the grass outside Faith Inspirational Missionary Baptist Church. Already, God has received a standing ovation. The thermometer on the wall claims it's only 75 degrees in here, but congregants are dancing in the aisles, some with their shoes kicked off and stashed under the pews. Their sweat mixes with their tears, and for once in Compton, they are tears of joy. "People of faith!" thunders the Rev.

Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday approved a multiagency pilot program to combat gang activity in four targeted communities -- Duarte-Monrovia, Florence-Firestone, Harbor Gateway and Pacoima. County Chief Executive Officer William T. Fujioka and Sheriff Lee Baca said the plan focuses on improving coordination of services, such as law enforcement, probation and social services, for at-risk youth in those areas. If the pilot program succeeds, it could be expanded countywide.

Seeking to further curb criminal activities, Compton has asked a judge to ban individuals identified as members of the Mob Piru street gang -- including rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight -- from congregating in a northeast neighborhood. Using a strategy employed by other crime-ridden communities, the court order would be the first gang injunction in a city with a long history of battling street gangs.

A spasm of cross-racial gang shootings in and around the San Gabriel Valley city of Monrovia has left a 64-year-old African American man and a 16-year-old Latina dead and prompted a law enforcement crackdown to stem the bloodshed. In all, seven people have been killed or wounded in recent weeks, as suspected black and Latino gang members have traded gunfire. At least two of those killed have been bystanders, authorities said.

Reeling from a spate of gang shootings that has left three dead in the last two weeks, Monrovia officials Thursday urged calm in the San Gabriel Valley community while calling for stepped-up police enforcement. "We have the resources and the money to fight back -- and we are," Mayor Rob Hammond said at a morning news conference at City Hall, where he was joined by ministers, school, police and sheriff's officials.

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting a man at a Watts housing complex as part of a gang feud that has left four men dead since Sunday, the mayor said Friday. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton said that in the wake of the bloodshed, the city has tripled patrols in the Watts area, sent out dozens of gang intervention workers and held several community meetings to end the fighting between the Grape Street Crips and East Coast Crips.