FEDS JOIN WAR ON GANGS.

Byline: Mariel Garza Staff Writer

Police Chief William Bratton and Mayor James Hahn joined federal crime fighters Monday to announce a joint antigang push that will bring nearly 40 additional federal agents to Los Angeles in a stepped-up war on gangs.

The joint effort will include closer cooperation between Los Angeles police officers and the various special agents deployed in Los Angeles with the goal of beating down the rise in gang violence, which has been responsible for many of the more than 600 homicides in the city so far this year.

First, their joint crackdown will focus on South Central Los Angeles and then move to other areas as needed. They intend to target illegal guns and gang kingpins.

``We are not going to surrender one inch of turf to the gangs,'' Hahn said. ``The streets of Los Angeles belong to the law-abiding citizens.''

Among the efforts announced Monday:

--Drug Enforcement Agency officials in Los Angeles are requesting that a team of about 20 agents, called the Mobile Enforcement Team, focus its efforts on the neighborhoods in the area of the LAPD's 77th Street station.

That team has previously worked five times in Los Angeles in the past five years, including crackdowns in the north San Fernando Valley and East Los Angeles, with some success in lowering violent crime, according to Michele Leonhart, the special agent in charge in Los Angeles.

--The director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Los Angeles is working on redeploying two teams - about 20 to 25 agents - to the city by March to focus on illegal gun trafficking. The redeployment has been approved pending funding, said Donald Kincaid, special agent in charge of the ATF in Los Angeles.

--Because federal prosecutions require sometimes-stricter procedures, federal agents will train officers of the Los Angeles Police Department to meet those standards.

Although none of the initiatives rolled out marks a major shift in what federal officials have already been doing in Los Angeles, authorities said the joint announcement signals a significant, stepped-up emphasis on coordination, resources and training to make inroads against the city's top crime issue.

``The difference is when you do it in a focused manner,'' said U.S. Attorney Debra Yang, who pledged that her office will continue to file federal charges using racketeering laws and other tools. ``It allows us to share intelligence. It allows us to be a little bit smarter, a little better.''

Previously, the federal agencies have worked on a case-by-case basis with local police, but nothing as comprehensive as this, Yang said.

Bratton said the redeployment of 70 LAPD officers to South Los Angeles two weeks ago in response to a number of gang-related shootings has already made a difference.

``There's been one homicide in the 77th so far in the month of December,'' Bratton said, compared with ``over a hundred going into December, leading the city.''

But even all this isn't enough, Hahn said. For its size, California receives a disproportionately small amount of federal law enforcement muscle.

``I used to call this the 'trickle West' theory of federal dollars: The farther away from Washington, D.C., the harder it is to get federal resources. For instance there's two U.S. attorney offices in New York City'' and only one in Los Angeles, Hahn said. The same holds true for other law enforcement issues, he said.

``California, which pays more federal taxes than any other state, comes out on the short end of the stick when it comes to resources.''

In January, Hahn and Bratton will head to Washington to meet with federal law enforcement officials to make a case for sending in more federal reinforcements to the city.

Hahn, who has objected to the media's use of the word ``war'' when characterizing the antigang efforts, made it clear Monday that he wouldn't be drawn into a debate about semantics.

``The idea of a war sends the wrong message,'' Hahn said. ``I don't want young police officers to think that we're not serious about police reform (or) we're not serious about trying to undo the damage that was done by Rafael Perez,'' he said, referring to the former officer who tipped off authorities about problems in the LAPD's Rampart Division antigang unit.

``That was a real war on gangs, on the 18th Street gang,'' Hahn said. ``As that old saw goes, all's fair in love and war and that's not the message we want to send. We want to make a focused attack like Chief Bratton talked about. A very strategic way of dealing with this program.''

However, Hahn and Bratton have continued to use military terminology such as ``battle'' when discussing the city's response to street-gang crime. Bratton, especially, has used hard language in talking about gangs, saying the problem is worse than the Mafia.

``Let's not get hung up on terminology here,'' Bratton said. ``Let's get hung up on what's happening. Over 650 people killed in this city and that's the reality of it, whether you call it a war or whatever you want to call it.''

Earlier on Monday, Hahn and Bratton announced a campaign to recruit more women into the Police Department. Currently, only 19 percent of the force of more than 9,000 is female.

``We need more women,'' Bratton said. ``There are many opportunities, from leadership roles to crime fighting and community policing.''

The program will seek to boost the female representation in the ranks with a number of different programs aimed at getting women candidates in better physical condition before they go to the Police Academy and providing them with mentors during and after their months in the academy.

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GANG CRIMES AND HOMICIDES

SOURCE: Los Angeles Police Department