GANG-CRIME EXPLOSION FEARED.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

Weakened gang suppression efforts in Los Angeles County have led to a sharp increase in graffiti taggings in some neighborhoods and heightened concern among officials of a looming explosion of gang-related violence.

Various officials who deal with street gang crime have decided to voice their concerns since a Daily News story disclosed the county Probation Department has sharply cut staff in its anti-gang program and modified its policies.

They said the changes have stripped authorities of their best tools for dealing with the street gang menace and allowed gang members with felony records to violate terms of their probation with little consequence.

``It's chaos,'' said Neal Berke, a volunteer with the Valley Glen Graffiti Abatement Team in the East San Fernando Valley.

``The graffiti is absolutely getting worse. We're in a state of crisis, especially with LAPD spread out so much on homeland defense. We need to get probation on the ball.''

Superior Court Judge Morton Rochman, supervising judge of the San Fernando Valley Juvenile Court in Sylmar, said the Probation Department's new policies effectively place juvenile offenders affiliated with gangs, or the minors who commit the most numerous and most violent crimes in the Valley, under the least supervision. The department is shifting most of its juvenile probation staff to the schools.

``It's a small population, and it can be identified,'' Rochman said, adding the probation changes were made without the court's notification. ``The probation officers know who they are; the police know who they are. It just seems to be a manpower and a budget problem.''

The cuts come at the same time as a highly successful multi-agency, anti- gang task force, known as CLEAR, is on the verge of being dismantled because of a cut in state funding and the unwillingness of city or county officials to find money for it.

Without enough anti-gang probation officers to team up with LAPD officers to enforce probation conditions - especially at night and on weekends when most crime occurs - gang-affiliated minors get away with wearing baggy pants or other gang clothes, break curfew and engage in other conduct forbidden by the court, officials said.

No supervision

``We have no one (in probation) at night supervising gangs, and no experienced gang officers,'' said Superior Court Commissioner Jack Gold, a 20-year veteran of the juvenile systems. ``There are neighborhoods terrorized by gangs.''

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City, who was instrumental in writing a law worth about $34 million a year in gang prevention and suppression funds for Los Angeles County, said he was surprised the probation gang suppression unit had been cut back.

``My intent was to make sure we had real dollars in every community to continue gang prevention and suppression programs. My bill was about enhancement, so local government could continue funding programs they already had and could add to them.''

Richard Shumsky, the county's chief probation officer, said he hasn't refilled gang suppression positions because he's restructuring the Valley's unit to make it more flexible, with mobile units responding to areas not covered by enhanced probation programs in schools, parks and housing units.

``We want everything integrated.''

Shumsky said the Cardenas funds are best used on a variety of programs, including mental health screening, school-based officers, and in cooperation with nonprofits.

He said the Valley will get enough gang suppression resources within the next couple of months, and that dangerous kids will continue to be taken off the streets.

``We're really trying to change behavior,'' Shumsky said of the programs, which for many juvenile probationers means schooling and work programs over detention in crowded halls.

But juvenile justices and probation officials question his ``soft'' approach to the gang problem, particularly in regard to minors on probation for violence and other serious crimes.

``We're not getting quality (intervention) reports,'' said Rochman, the supervising judge.

Crucial reports

The probation officers' reports are crucial to detect those juveniles headed for trouble - as, for instance, storing gang gear in their bedrooms or staying out past curfew. Without effective intervention, judges increasingly see the probationer only after a new crime has been committed.

A probation official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the three remaining probation officers in the Valley gang unit - down from eight - are doing what they can to track juvenile probationers but face an impossible job.

``They can't do their job.''

Despite about 2,000 Valley juvenile gang members, many on probation, there are no longer enough gang suppression officers to monitor the most gang-infested neighborhoods, including Pacoima, Van Nuys and parts of North Hollywood. In the past, seasoned officers knew the histories and behaviors of entrenched gangs, the official said.

With most gang-suppression probation veterans gone, LAPD officers and sheriff deputies have lost intelligence tools and therefore are involved in fewer actions against juveniles violating terms of their probation.

``Before, a mom would call and say their kid was missing, and (a probation officer) could call the gang unit in that geographic area. Now they can't do that,'' the probation officer said.

Even when cops and sheriff's deputies get reliable information from a probation officer that a juvenile is in violation of the court's order, law enforcement officers often decline to participate in searches and detentions because of recent higher standards established for both, officials said.

``We've lost all continuity,'' the probation official said. ``Before, say there was a gang member (on probation) who was out at one in the morning, had an open container, wasn't going to school and dressed (in gang attire).

``The probation officers get a page and authorize taking them to juvenile hall. Now they're not taken to juvenile hall because of the criteria. It has to be a good, new arrest before they're taken to juvenile hall.''

Gold, the court-appointed commissioner, said that recently a minor with two previous stolen car convictions led police on a high-speed chase in his mother's car - an offense that didn't meet probation's detention standards.

``I locked him back up (anyway),'' Gold said.

Shumsky said any juvenile who is a danger to himself or to others can be detained. The only change, he said, is that probation officers now must notify supervisors of detentions.

He added the county's three juvenile halls have been too crowded in the past, with up to 2,300 minors, and that it's important the county keep within capacities to avoid lawsuits.

Gold and other court officials said funding decisions are hampering efforts to deal with juvenile gang offenders, citing probation officers who say they're told not to recommend sending kids to the county-funded camps - among the most effective in reforming offenders.

Recently, a girl with a relatively minor record was recommended for Youth Authority, the equivalent of state prison for kids, because the probation officer said that was department policy, Gold said.

``I called and said, why are you recommending Youth Authority; she's not carjacking or anything; she's not violent. He said, `I have to do it, the decision was made higher up.'

``I sent her to camp.''

Shumsky said there is a waiting list for kids to get into the county's 19 camps, but that hasn't affected department policy. He added that kids who continue to commit crimes should go to Youth Authority, not camp.