GANG UNIT CHALKS UP SUCCESS APPROXIMATELY 800 ARRESTS MADE IN A.V. DURING 9 MONTHS.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - A Sheriff's Department unit formed to target hard-core gang members has made close to 800 arrests since being brought to the Antelope Valley nine months ago.

The Operations Safe Streets unit was brought to the Antelope Valley in March after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors decided to expand the 25-year-old program to the north part of the county.

``One of the beliefs is that we were brought up here because of an increase in activity by hard-core gang members, but there's really no evidence to support that,'' said Sgt. Larry Mead, who heads the OSS team. ``It's a successful program with a solid tradition and the Board of Supervisors believed it would be just as successful up here.''

In the nine months since being put in place in Lancaster, the OSS and its partner, the Gang Enforcement Team, have made more than 400 arrests.

Exact statistics were not available for the Palmdale Station team, but officials said their numbers are close to that of the Lancaster teams.

The OSS teams are made up of three investigators and a sergeant. The GET team has six investigators and a sergeant.

The Palmdale and Lancaster Station each have their own teams but often work together.

Each team works with a deputy district attorney who specializes in prosecuting the most violent gangsters.

The OSS team's primary function is gather intelligence on gang activity, such as by talking with gang members and documenting graffiti. They prepare cases for presentation to prosecutors.

GET team members work late night and early morning shifts making arrests and deterring gang crime by their increased presence in infested neighborhoods.

``Our primary function is intelligence gathering,'' Mead said. ``We talk to gangsters and really listen to what they say. Then, if and when they commit a crime, we have information that could link them to it.''

The teams keep records on graffiti and the gangs associated with it, as well as detailed biographical information on hundreds of gangsters.

Officials in the unit said that another important function is to try to convince younger members to give up the gang lifestyle.

``We talk to them and try to give them their options,'' Mead said. ``We explain what their future will be like in hopes of turning them around.''