COPS, GANGS TO BAT BALL, NOT EACH OTHER.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

``You need to come out and feel this thing. It's alive.''

William ``Blinky'' Rodriguez

``This thing'' is a picnic for peace. Members of eight local street gangs, who spend most of the year hating each other, will go to Hansen Dam Recreation Center on Saturday to play a round-robin softball tournament with a team of Los Angeles Police Department officers.

No guns or batons, just bats and balls.

One of those gangs, Barrio Van Nuys, beat the LAPD team 24-17 in the inaugural championship game last year.

It was a fluke, said Sgt. John Artes, who heads the Valley Bureau's anti- gang detail.

``This year we're bringing our best players because we want to win it all,'' he said Thursday.

Fat chance, said Blinky Rodriguez, an ex-gang member who has devoted most of his adult life to promoting peace in the Northeast San Fernando Valley.

``The atmosphere last year was like a heavyweight fight, and it'll be the same this year,'' said Rodriguez, executive director of Communities in Schools and a member of the San Fernando Valley Coalition on Gangs.

The bravado is already flying - but only with words, not bullets. And that's what makes the picnic for peace so important to everyone who lives in the Valley.

``The gangs and our police officers are coming to compete, but it's a healthy competition, not a violent one,'' Artes said.

What police found after last year's picnic surprised a lot of people. There was an unspoken gang truce that lasted almost four months. No shootings, no killings involving members of gangs that participated in the picnic.

It's hard to hate someone whose hand you shook at home plate after a softball game. It's hard to hate someone whose family shared a barbecue with you.

``It's a day-to-day grind out here to keep the peace, and this picnic has given us a successful platform to keep it going,'' Blinky said. ``It's not just the homeys coming out. It's their mothers and fathers, their little brothers and sisters, their children.''

Again, it's hard to hate someone when you and he just spent the day sitting on blankets a few feet apart and watching kids in your family and his family play in the park.

This picnic for peace wasn't an idea that quickly took root. Neither the police officers nor the gang members were eager to give up a weekend day to spend time with each other.

But both sides saw the value. LAPD Deputy Chief Ron Bergmann, who created the anti-gang coalition four years ago, said it best at last year's picnic.

``The thrust is not that cops and gang members are friends by playing softball, but some understanding that we're all human,'' said the Valley's commanding officer.

``We want to reach the families.''

And they have, Blinky said, speaking for the gangs. ``Hey, we made it to a second annual picnic together. That has to say something.''

Yeah, it does.

The San Fernando Valley Coalition on Gangs includes police officers, prosecutors, parole and probation officers and representatives of community-based service organizations, churches and schools.

C'mon out and meet some dedicated people trying to make the Valley a safer place for everyone.

The picnic for peace - which includes a show of classic cars and hot rods - will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Hansen Dam, 11798 Foothill Blvd., Lake View Terrace. You can bring your own picnic lunch or purchase food at the event.

Also during the event this year, Los Angeles city and county agencies will sponsor a job, resource and health fair for ex-offenders from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more information, contact the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordination Committee at [phone].

Dennis McCarthy, [phone]

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com