COPS GET TOUGH WITH GANGS TASK FORCE CONDUCTS SWEEPS IN VALLEY.Byline: Josh Kleinbaum Staff Writer NORTH HILLS - Gabriel Andrade saw them coming, just a little too late. Andrade - whose gang name is Gizmo Slang for any hardware device. See gadget. - was standing in front of his apartment building in the 8600 block of Columbus Street before sunrise Friday when a team of officers from the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . and the county's Department of Probation approached. Gizmo dropped something in the back of a pickup truck, then turned and ran. But the apartment's security gate was locked. At 5:16 a.m., an LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. task force aimed at suppressing gang violence in Panorama City and North Hills had its first target. In the bed of the pickup truck, police found a .38-caliber handgun. After two gang-related homicides this month, the LAPD fought back with a widespread gang sweep. A task force of 84 officers from six agencies raided 54 locations, performing probation- and parole-compliance searches and serving some warrants. The searches stretched from Palmdale to Hollywood, although most of them took place in Panorama City and North Hills, where the peace between two local gangs involved in the drug trade shattered shat·ter v. shat·tered, shat·ter·ing, shat·ters v.tr. 1. To cause to break or burst suddenly into pieces, as with a violent blow. 2. a. in recent weeks. The task force arrested 22 gang members, a dozen on felony felony (fĕl`ənē), any grave crime, in contrast to a misdemeanor, that is so declared in statute or was so considered in common law. charges and 10 on misdemeanors. Officers confiscated con·fis·cate tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates 1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury. 2. To seize by or as if by authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. adj. three handguns and a sawed-off shotgun Noun 1. sawed-off shotgun - a shotgun with short barrels scattergun, shotgun - firearm that is a double-barreled smoothbore shoulder weapon for firing shot at short ranges . ``This wasn't a one-time thing,'' Mission Area Capt. Kirk Albanese said. ``This is going to be an ongoing effort until we get this under control.'' The task force had the goals of suppressing violence and pumping gang members for information on the homicides that occurred Oct. 2 and Sunday. The raids also painted a picture of the depths of the problem of gang violence in the area. In one apartment, officers arrested a 15-year-old for violating terms of his probation by associating with known gang members. Despite a gang sign sketched into the door of the apartment, the boy's father said he had no idea his son belonged to a gang. ``Every time we're closing a door, we're leaving a family behind,'' said Deputy Chief Michel Moore, the Valley Bureau's commanding officer. ``We've talked to them about why we're there. We can only hope that the mother or father will take some follow-up action.'' Just down the street, a family of seven sat in the living room while officers searched the house. Two brothers, both gang members in their early 20s, were cuffed. Their mother held a newborn baby on her lap. Pictures of a family member in a Marine uniform decorated the living room wall. A team of officers from the Mission Area gang unit - one of six teams performing searches - spent nearly nine hours searching apartments, nearly all of them on the same street. They stopped at most apartment buildings - many of them with broken windows or light posts and covered with graffiti. In one building, one of the feuding gangs taunted the other with a picture of a bicycle - in gang graffiti, that's saying they're nothing more than migrant workers A migrant worker is someone who regularly works away from home, if they even have a home.[] Although the United Nations' use of this term overlaps with 'foreign worker', the use of the term within the United States is more specific. , officers said. In some buildings, members of the two gangs lived side by side. Officers found the sawed-off, double-barrel shotgun under the couch Under the Couch (UTC) is a live music venue located at Georgia Tech beneath the Couch Building on West Campus. It is run by the Musician's Network (MN), a Georgia Tech student organization. UTC was established by the Musician's Network in 1995. of an apartment on Columbus Street. ``That weapon is for one purpose - to kill,'' Albanese said. ``It is illegal to possess, and it is typical of the kind of weapon you'd find in the gang lifestyle.'' Two brothers, both gang members in their late 20s, lived in the apartment. Two girls, ages 14 and 16, were also inside. All four were arrested - the brothers for probation violations and illegal possession of a firearm firearm, device consisting essentially of a straight tube to propel shot, shell, or bullets by the explosion of gunpowder. Although the Chinese discovered gunpowder as early as the 9th cent., they did not develop firearms until the mid-14th cent. , and the girls for truancy. ``Parents need to take more responsibility to find out where their kids are staying,'' said Officer Rudy Perez of the Los Angeles School The Los Angeles School of Urbanism is an academic movement emerged during the mid-1980s, loosely based at the University of Southern California and UCLA, that poses a challenge to the dominant Chicago School of Urbanism. Police Department's gang unit. ``We came in contact with two girls hanging out with two 27-year-olds with a sawed-off shotgun. The parents had no idea.'' The day ended where it began - at Andrade's apartment building. Earlier that morning, officers searched the apartment of a gang member but found nothing that violated his parole. Over the next eight hours, though, his name surfaced in interrogations about the homicides. The officers took him in for questioning. ``We had several new developments (in the homicide homicide (hŏm`əsīd), in law, the taking of human life. Homicides that are neither justifiable nor excusable are considered crimes. A criminal homicide committed with malice is known as murder, otherwise it is called manslaughter. investigations),'' Lt. Tom Zak said. ``Several investigative elements confirmed what was already suspected. The investigation remains ongoing. ``This will definitely make a difference, at least for the short term. If nothing else, we got four guns off the streets.'' Josh Kleinbaum, (818) 546-3669 josh.kleinbaum(at)dailynews.com HOW TO HELP --Police are investigating an Oct. 2 slaying in the 8700 block of Burnet burnet, hardy perennial herb of the family Rosaceae (rose) found in temperate regions, usually with white or greenish flowers. The European species are sometimes cultivated for the leaves, which are used in salads, for flavoring, and formerly as a poultice to stop Avenue and a homicide Sunday in the 8700 block of Memory Park Avenue. Anyone with information should contact Mission Area homicide detectives at (818) 838-9810. CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1) LAPD gang task force officers take a Vincent Town Gang member into custody early Friday morning in North Hills. (2) A gang officer from the LAPD examines a sawed-off, double-barrel shotgun recovered during a probation search of a gang member in North Hills Friday morning. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer Box: HOW TO HELP (see text) |
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