CITIES, COUNTY TO COLLABORATE ON GANG STRATEGIES SUMMIT WILL EXPLORE WAYS TO FIGHT RISING VIOLENCE.

Byline: GIDEON RUBIN Staff Writer

City leaders and public safety officials from Lancaster and Palmdale will meet Tuesday with county law enforcement and prosecutors to explore ways to combat growing gang violence in a collaborative way in what is ostensibly the Antelope Valley's first-ever gang summit.

Lancaster Councilmen Ron Smith and Jim Jeffra and Assistant City Manager Mark Bozigian, Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford and Councilman Tom Lackey and Public Safety Manager Anne Ambrose are among those scheduled to meet with representatives from the two cities' sheriff's stations and a District Attorney's Office representative.

Smith initiated the meeting in response to growing concern over a rise in Antelope Valley gang violence.

``Valley crime is a regional issue that we have to deal with in a collaborative way,'' Smith said.

Smith said the meeting will include discussion of establishing a special court reserved for gang-related crimes, and a more streamlined ``vertical'' prosecution, in which cases are followed through from start to finish by one lawyer.

``Public safety is our top priority,'' Ledford said. ``Our valley needs to stand united against gangs.''

Ledford said he strongly supports the idea of collaborating with members of a council that Palmdale often has conflicting interests with to rid the region of gangs.

``There is some rivalry,... but we cooperate on far more issues than we compete and this is an example of that,'' Ledford said.

Smith, a first-term council member whose law enforcement background includes 16 years as a sheriff's deputy, got unanimous support from the council last week authorizing city staffers to explore ways of imposing an injunction against gang members that would include onerous restrictions on their dress and ability to congregate publicly.

Smith said implementation of such an injunction would take at least nine months once approved by the council. He said he'd encourage all Antelope Valley cities to impose similar injunctions, but noted that such laws wouldn't limit gang mobility.

Injunctions are essentially gang and city specific restraining orders, meaning a Lancaster injunction wouldn't be enforceable in Palmdale.

``The template will work, but the restraining order will not,'' Smith said.

Ledford said similar laws targeting gang members already exist in Palmdale but are not prosecuted, an issue he said will be discussed in Tuesday's meeting.

``We can pass all the ordinances in the world, but if (prosecutors) don't file it won't matter,'' Ledford said.

Ledford said he believes the meeting sends a message to those involved in gang activity that law enforcement efforts specifically targeting them will affect their ability to do business in the Antelope Valley.

``We're going to let them know they're not welcome here and we're going to do everything in our power to make them uncomfortable,'' he said.

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