GANG WOES SPREADING, GROUP SAYS THOUSANDS AT MEETING PRESS FOR LAW AND ORDER.

Byline: GIDEON RUBIN

Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Trino Lizarde said he never expected it to come to this.

Lizarde, who moved with his wife nine years ago to the Antelope Valley expecting a safer place to raise children, said that after a few tranquil years he's now seeing the same problems that dogged Montebello, the East Los Angeles community he left behind.

"When we first moved here, you didn't have the paramedics, the (sheriff's deputies) or the helicopters all the time, and it's gotten to the point where we're hearing them on a daily basis," said Lizarde, 39, of Lancaster. "It's very much shocking."

Lizarde brought those concerns Monday night to Lancaster Baptist Church, where an overflow crowd of more than 3,000 attended the first meeting of Antelope Valley War on Gangs and Crime, a grass-roots organization founded by the Rev. Paul Chappell and attorney R. Rex Parris.

Lizarde said he is part of Lancaster Baptist Church's regular congregation.

Lasting more than two hours, the meeting featured speakers including the group's co-founders, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, Lancaster Mayor Henry Hearns and Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford, as well as a 30-minute public forum.

Political leaders from both cities and about two dozen sheriff's deputies were among the crowd.

Introductory remarks from Chappell and Parris underscored their group's conservative Christian message and heavy emphasis on law enforcement.

"At the heart of the problem is a problem of the heart," remarked Chappell, who said a "spiritual revival" is required to reduce crime and calling criminal street gangs "domestic terrorists."

In an apparent snipe at public officials, Chappell hinted that it is not in the community's best interests to be developing parks and recreation facilities at a time when crime seems to be the public's top priority, an assertion Parris supported.

"Until law enforcement is provided with every tool they need to protect our families, we shouldn't be thinking about one other thing," Parris said.

Speaking forcefully in support of increasing law enforcement's presence countywide, and especially in the Antelope Valley, Baca said he expects to win the Board of Supervisors' approval to build a permanent 300-person lockup to house Antelope Valley inmates.

"Anyone who commits a crime in the valley goes there and does 100 percent of their time," he said.

The group stressed public involvement as essential in achieving its crime-reduction goal. The audience was urged to get involved in Neighborhood Watch groups and work as sheriff's volunteers.

Most of those in attendance strongly supported the group's message.

"If you're asking me, the most important things are that we get more law enforcement and that people serve their full term when they go to jail," said Scott Williams, a Lancaster man who identified himself as a church member.

The lone dissenting voice at the meeting was Roger Elliott, a 69-year-old Palmdale man who spoke during the public forum of the need to augment law enforcement with social services.

Elliott, a professional boxing trainer who has worked with troubled youths most of his adult life, said the group didn't appear to him to be interested in addressing the root causes of gang violence.

"There was no compassion," Elliott said. "All they talked about was how they were going to spend money on more police."

Elliott said he supports law enforcement, but found the group's approach to be one-dimensional. He noted little mention of investing taxpayer dollars in social programs such as mentoring, tutoring, education and job training, which many experts consider essential to crime prevention.

He said he was not aware of the group's political leaning.

"It was very biased," Elliott said. "These kids have problems that some of those people in that church don't even dream of."

Some group members and some in law enforcement expressed concern about possible gang retaliation against the group.

Most said they believe it's a risk they must take.

"I've thought about (retaliation), but I just believe if we don't put our foot down, where's it going to stop?" Lizarde said. "There could be retaliation, but as a community we have to take a stand. People are (crime) victims every day anyway."

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