GANGS CREEP BACK EXPERTS SAY VALLEY, L.A. ARE RIPE FOR NEW TURF WARS.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

Murder and other gang-related crimes have soared across Los Angeles to their highest level in years, fed by hard-core gang members out on parole, a new generation of recruits as young as 9, and a police response hampered by ``Rampart rules.''

L.A. police officials defend the tough new procedures as necessary after rogue cops in the Rampart Division's anti-gang unit ran out of control, framing gang members, shooting suspects without cause and lying in court proceedings.

All anti-gang units citywide were disbanded and their functions split among narcotics officers, detectives and new gang-suppression units in an effort to curb abuses by providing closer supervision and more checks on the officers' action.

At the same time, hundreds of gang members - including scores of high- ranking members of the Mexican Mafia - are being released from prison into Los Angeles every year.

This result is an eruption of turf wars that has led to a nearly 20 percent jump in gang-related crime in the San Fernando Valley during the first three months of 2002, with 20 of the area's 31 homicides through Friday linked to gangs. Citywide, 63 gang-related homicides were recorded through February, more than triple the number for the comparable period in 2000.

``We're losing the war,'' said Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine, a former Los Angeles Police Department sergeant who represents the West Valley. ``The gang members believe they have upper hand. Cops are intimidated to do the job.''

LAPD officials deny they are intimated, but acknowledge that the price of restoring community confidence in the LAPD after the Rampart scandal is that fighting gang crime has become more difficult.

``It makes it harder for us to do our jobs,'' said Lt. Gary Nanson, who heads the Valley Bureau's Special Enforcement Units. ``That's just the facts.''

The Valley's top cop, Deputy Chief Ronald Bergmann, said the department needed the reform and predicted that the long-term results will be positive, especially when it comes to developing cases using gang informants.

``We don't want young officers developing informants,'' said Bergmann, who added that most officers in the gang enforcement unit have less than five years' experience, while detectives are far more seasoned. ``Informants take some special expertise. Detectives go to school for that. They are trained in that.''

But on the streets, the new procedures, coupled with 1,100 unfilled police officer jobs and internal LAPD conflicts, have been a green light for gangsters to flex their muscles, according to gang intervention experts.

``Word travels that there aren't enough cops on the streets,'' said Steve Martinez, a former Pacoima gangster who now does intervention with Victory Outreach. ``It's like a kid trying to get away with something if a parent is not around.''

Gang unit officers lament the fact that the LAPD's new Special Enforcement Units, which patrol known gang territories, no longer have the flexibility to conduct undercover surveillance operations regarding narcotics activity.

Because Rampart cops operated virtually without supervision, commanders now must sign off on all requests for undercover stakeouts, and those stakeouts are now conducted by the narcotics unit, not gang enforcement.

``I think officers feel somewhat stymied,'' said Sgt. John Pasquariello of the LAPD's media relations section.

``The perception is that their hands are tied. That is the perception of many. However, there is nothing in the policy that says they can't do police work and talk to gang members and gather intelligence. It might be more of a perception issue than a reality.''

Another problem lies in cultivating gang informants - long considered among one of the most effective means of getting inside a gang. Any informant who comes forward now is turned over to the detective division, instead of staying inside the gang unit - again because of Rampart abuses.

``A lot of these detectives don't have time to develop informants,'' said a former Valley gang unit cop, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. ``We're losing informants. We rely on them to get inside the gangsters' minds.''

Some officers also said they are less aggressive in dealing with gang members because they fear a complaint will be filed, automatically triggering an internal investigation.

``Gang members are filing complaints against cops,'' Zine said. ``What amazes me is that the department weighs a complaint from a gang member who has a history of violence the same way as an honest citizen's complaint. Let's be fair.''

The effects of the complaints are real.

``It's a real fear,'' said Bradley Gage, a Woodland Hills attorney who represents police officers. ``A lot of good cops get drummed out of the department. It's a big problem. They don't get the backing (from their superiors) like they used to.''

On the other side of the fence is a new generation of brazen street gangsters.

The newest troops include children, ages 9 to 13, as well as up-and- coming teens and twenty-somethings who grew up during the generally peaceful 1990s. They're now the ones doing the drive-by attacks, jumping people on the streets and terrorizing neighborhoods, police and gang experts said.

``It used to be that years ago, little kids never committed crimes,'' Nanson said. ``Gang crime is sensationalized. It's in TV, the newspapers. Little kids look up to the tougher kids. Older gangsters are recruiting young kids.''

The youngsters are being spurred on by hundreds of veteran gangsters - including members of the notorious Mexican Mafia.

Authorities say hard-core gangsters were imprisoned more than a decade ago, during the height of the nation's war on drugs, and are now being released and returning to the gang life.

``They're further hardened and want to go back to their old ways again,'' said homicide Detective Vince Bancroft, a supervisor in the LAPD's North Hollywood Division.

``Old-timers are preaching about neighborhood integrity. They try to re-establish the old boundaries of the neighborhood that seemed to have softened over the years. The old rivalries are fresh in their minds. This is their claim to fame - the gang.''

A Valley gang peace treaty brokered in the early 1990s by former gang member Blinky Rodriguez helped quell violence among Valley gangs until recently.

``You can't wave a magic wand and say, 'Peace,' said Rodriguez, executive director of Communities in Schools, an intervention program for kids at risk of joining the gang lifestyle. ``It's wild out there right now.''

Rodriguez and his team of about a dozen mostly former gang members hit the streets every weekend night trying to ``breathe peace into the young kids,'' he said.

But he doesn't see a new truce soon.

``It's not going to be a happy summer for a lot of mothers.''

THE FACTS

--The average number of California's most violent gang felons - who were imprisoned more than a decade ago before ``three strikes, you're out'' legislation was enacted - that are released to Los Angeles county every year: 600

--Average number of street gang ``soldiers'' paroled to Los Angeles County every month: 500

--Average number of known high-level Mexican Mafia (La Eme) members paroled to Los Angeles County every month: 10

--Average number of Mexican Mafia (La Eme) street ``soldiers'' paroled to Los Angeles County every month: 13

SOURCE: California Department of Corrections

CAPTION(S):

2 boxes

Box:

(1) THE FACTS (see text)

(2) ANNUAL SAN FERNANDO VALLEY GANG CRIMES

2002 to end of March 31 (First quarter)