OFFICIALS: ATTACK ON GANGS MUST BE COOPERATIVE VIOLENCE RAMPANT DESPITE SEPARATE AGENCY PROGRAMS.

Byline: RICK ORLOV Staff Writer

With scores of anti-gang programs proving ineffective in stemming a wave of violence, a cross-section of city and community officials joined Wednesday to seek a unified solution to the crisis.

Although the city, county and Los Angeles Unified School District operate a total of 87 anti-gang programs, the lack of a comprehensive approach has allowed gang activity and violence to escalate, said a report issued last week by respected civil-rights attorney Connie Rice said.

``These (programs) have just been added over the years with no thought to accountability,'' Councilman Tony Cardenas said Wednesday at a hearing of the Ad Hoc Committee on Gangs and Youth Violence.

``If I put together an organizational chart like this when I was studying to be an engineer, I never would have passed.

``If we don't find relief fast, and create effective solutions, then we will lose more lives in this disaster.''

Elected officials, city and county law enforcement and religious leaders concurred that agencies must address the problem together.

``It is time for the Police Department and law enforcement to recognize that the suppression component is the first step,'' Police Chief William Bratton said. ``We have done much. The number of gang members is down, but the violence is still too pervasive.''

LAUSD Superintendent David Brewer III said he wants students to feel safe on their way to and from school, as well as on campus.

While City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said he supports many of the recommendations in Rice's report, he voiced concern about the possibility that a coordinated anti-gang effort would result in a single massive bureaucracy.

He also touted the the success of anti-gang programs implemented by his office, including court injunctions, neighborhood prosecutors and anti-truancy efforts.

Sheriff Lee Baca urged the panel to view law-enforcement officers as resources in fighting gangs.

``These people care deeply about what is going on,'' Baca said. ``To me, this is a civil-rights issue -- people who can't walk the streets at night out of fear of a random bullet.''

But Controller Laura Chick noted that she served on a similar panel 11 years ago to address the same issue.

``To me, this is, like, deja vu,'' Chick said, adding that the council must put politics aside to honestly evaluate the effectiveness of city anti-gang programs.

In her report, Rice echoed the need for a review of city programs.

``We looked at two neighborhoods that were almost identical in makeup, and one was up to its elbows in gang violence and the other had no problems at all,'' Rice said.

``We need to see what worked in that one neighborhood and what isn't being done in the other.''

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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