COUNTY LOITERING LAW AIMED AT GANG MEMBERS.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer

A Los Angeles County loitering law that went into effect Friday is aimed at an estimated 65,000 gang members in unincorporated county areas including in the Antelope Valley and elsewhere.

Under the ordinance, gang members and anyone accompanying them can be arrested for gathering in public places if police suspect them of having the intent to intimidate others or conceal criminal activity.

Parents also face a maximum six months in jail and $500 fine if their juvenile children are convicted under the law.

Law enforcement officials said they will likely begin using the law to make arrests starting this weekend.

``This will help downplay the gang influence in affected areas,'' said Sheriff's Lt. Paul Denney of Operation Safe Streets, an anti-gang unit. ``It's a powerful tool for us to help residents take back their neighborhoods.''

Some opponents of the law, including the ACLU of Southern California, say it is as vague and discriminatory as a Chicago law that the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional.

Elizabeth Schroeder, the ACLU's assistant director in Los Angeles, said the law would allow police to harass. She said the ACLU would seek to halt the law if the group finds arrests by the Sheriff's Department to be unconstitutional.

But county officials support the new law, saying it was intentionally worded based on the outcome of the City of Chicago v. Morales decision on June 10, in which the high court found the anti-loitering law to be too vague and inclusive.

Los Angeles city injunctions against gangs differ from the county ordinance because they name specific gang members, rather than target groups.

Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney David Demerjian, who heads the Hardcore Gang Unit, said the county expects a legal fight against the ordinance that may end up in the Supreme Court.

There are an estimated 1,900 known gang members in Lancaster, and another 1,100 in Santa Clarita, according to officials. Any incorporated city in the county can choose to adapt the ordinance as well.

Denney said under a pilot project, only officers with expertise in gangs will make the initial arrests based on their professional judgment.

``We'll be targeting identified gang members,'' he said. ``If you're standing next to a gang building, wearing the clothes or flashing the gang signs, that's what we're looking for.''

He said intent to intimidate would not be hard to identify either.

``If they're in a gang and you ask them what they're doing and they say: `I'm hanging with my homies,' that's intent,'' he said.

Connie Rodriguez, a Northeast Valley community activist, has vowed to fight the new law, claiming it will send young Latinos to jail based on appearance.

Rodriguez, who unsuccessfully ran for the Los Angeles City Council this year, is forming a grassroots group called Communities in Action to fight the county and city anti-gang measures.

She said the law is much too vague because it doesn't define who a gang member is and leaves the finding of ``intent'' up to officers in the field.

Areas off limits to gang members under the law include streets, sidewalks, parks, schools, businesses and entrances to private residences.

She said those restrictions will end up affecting non-gang members who fit the profile.

``I used to think gang injunctions were a positive thing,'' she said. ``But then seeing how normal working people were being harassed by the police, I didn't believe the injunctions were helping anything.''