BRATTON: GANG EFFORTS NEEDED LAPD CHIEF SAYS MORE RESOURCES NECESSARY TO FIGHT GROWING PROBLEM.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

More attention and resources are needed to combat the nation's gang violence, much of it exported from Los Angeles to smaller communities, LAPD Chief William Bratton said Friday.

Following a three-day conference with more than 100 law enforcement and gang-intervention experts, Bratton said traditional efforts need to be coordinated with community and faith-based organizations, as well as street workers trained to defuse violence.

Bratton said there are new threats, particularly from the Central American street gang Mara Salvatrucha, which began in L.A. about 20 years ago and has moved across the country.

``These gangs have morphed quickly into international problems,'' Bratton said. ``Unlike the Mafia that's economically driven, these gangs are all about violence, and it's violence that's not controlled.''

Conference moderator Francis Hartmann, a senior research fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, noted there is a growing body of research and experience in how to deal with the gang problem, but it has not been formalized or incorporated into government systems.

In Los Angeles, for example, there is no coordination or close monitoring of the city's $4 million gang intervention program, which often includes former gang members as street workers. Other cities with similar programs have much closer oversight, coordinate with the police, and are supervised by better trained individuals.

Bratton said city officials have recognized that gang intervention efforts have been ``all over the place,'' and that efforts to better coordinate them are anticipated.

Deputy Chief Ronald Bergmann, the Valley's top commanding officer, said he was disappointed the San Fernando Valley Coalition on Gangs wasn't highlighted at the conference.

The coalition is one of the city's most successful in bringing together law enforcement, community-based organizations, churches, schools and others to address gang problems.

Bergmann said while gang homicides make up about 65 percent of homicides citywide, in the Valley gang homicides have dropped to under 40 percent of the total.

``I have to think the coalition has something to do with that,'' he said. ``I was very disappointed this department didn't profile a program that's been held out ... as an example of how to bring law enforcement and community groups together to work on a common problem.''

Beth Barrett, [phone]

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com