COPS, NEIGHBORS HUDDLE ON CRIME COMMUNITY ACTIVISM KEY TO CURBING GANGS, LAPD SAYS.

Byline: RACHEL URANGA Staff Writer

TARZANA -- In an attempt to crack down on escalating gang crime in the San Fernando Valley and elsewhere in the city, Los Angeles police are appealing to community leaders to help fill the gaps in crime-fighting.

As part of that strategy, the Los Angeles Police Department on Wednesday began welcoming neighborhood leaders into once-closed meetings on crime statistics -- statistics that show gang-related crime spiked about 40 percent in the Valley and 14 percent citywide last year.

``This is to make sure the community stays connected and does their share to address our reduction of crime and deal with the gang problem,'' Cmdr. David Doan said after the meeting at the Encino Tarzana Regional Medical Center. ``It's not simply for law enforcement to address; it's a community problem.''

Wednesday's meeting gave community leaders a chance to review figures from the LAPD's Compstat program -- a computerized system that pinpoints crime. Police hold a monthly meeting on the statistics, and community leaders will be invited to one of the meetings each quarter.

``I am glad they are getting more people in the community to participate in what is taking place,'' said Jamie Cordaro, the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council president who attended the five-hour meeting Wednesday. ``At least I know they are doing their job.''

The meeting came after a difficult few days of gang-related crime in the Valley. Two teenagers were wounded Tuesday in a shooting outside Grant High School in Van Nuys, and a 15-year-old Van Nuys boy was shot and killed over the weekend by a gang member.

In the coming weeks, Police Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are expected to announce a sweeping anti-gang initiative, and there are already moves afoot to shift tactics in attacking gangs.

On Tuesday, Bratton told the Police Commission he will target 10 of the city's most dangerous gangs.

In the Valley, 30 more officers will focus on gangs and violent-crime hot spots, Van Nuys Division Capt. James Miller said.

And the City Attorney's Office will be stepping up nuisance-abatement prosecutions at locations that serve as gang headquarters.

But getting the community involved is a key component of solving the Valley's gang problem, the LAPD's top brass says. During Wednesday's meeting, police officials pleaded for community activists to think of ways to reduce crime, increase participation in Neighborhood Watch groups and inform their neighbors of truancy rules.

``Our ability to impact crime will hinge on our ability to increase our ranks -- our ranks of community members,'' Cmdr. Kirk Albanese told the group.

Some neighborhood activists expressed skepticism that sending a few dozen community members to a police meeting could help decrease crime.

``The trouble with a group like this is that we are preaching to the choir,'' said Jay Goldberg, who chairs the Toluca Lake Neighborhood Council's Public Safety Committee. ``We just keep talking about what to do about gangs, and it seems like we have been doing that for a long, long time.''

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

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