RACIAL CLASHES SURGE IN VALLEY GANG VIOLENCE MOVES FROM JAIL TO THE STREETS.

Byline: SUE DOYLE Staff Writer

CANOGA PARK -- Racial tension that percolated in Los Angeles County jails this year has boiled over to San Fernando Valley streets, where Latino gang members are targeting African-Americans in random attacks.

Blacks have been the targets in nine of 12 attempted-murder cases reported since July in the Canoga Park area, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

``The people getting shot are the guy walking down the street; they're innocent victims,'' said Lt. Tom Smart of the West Valley's Gang Impact Team. ``They don't appear to have any gang membership or affiliation.''

The attacks are evidence of racial tension that started in Los Angeles' diverse neighborhoods, shifted to the county jails and is now spreading to the relatively safe West Valley. Two inmates have been killed and scores of others injured this year in racial brawls at Los Angeles County jails.

``We believe it's an outgrowth of some conflict we've seen in the county jail system where there have been fights along race lines,'' said Deputy Chief Michel Moore, the Valley's top cop. ``We believe gang members are targeting others and vice versa.''

Blacks were targeted this year in 14 of the West Valley's 23 reported hate crimes. Race was a motivating factor in the nine attempted-murder cases, as well, although they haven't been classified as hate crimes, Smart said.

Last week, a 17-year-old local Latino gang member was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in the attack on a 17-year-old African-American, Smart said.

In addition, two Canoga Park gang members, ages 17 and 18, were also recently arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, and detectives are investigating their links to other recent shootings and assaults.

Across the West Valley, brown-on-black violence has spiked in the past year.

There have been 80 crimes against African-Americans as of last week with Latinos as suspects, compared with 37 last year, 51 in 2004, 22 in 2003 and two dozen in 2002.

``It's distressing to hear these situations are taking place not only in our jails and prisons but in the public streets of the city of Los Angeles,'' said Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine, a retired police sergeant. ``It's unacceptable in our society to have this type of heinous crime.''

Teaming up with FBI

To tackle gang violence in the Valley, the LAPD has teamed up with the FBI to bring more law enforcement officials to the streets.

Los Angeles police, local youth clubs and community groups are also combining forces through the San Fernando Valley Coalition on Gangs to coordinate a steady stream of activities and opportunities for young people, particularly in Canoga Park.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said law enforcement and city officials must do everything possible to end the violence.

``We will not tolerate hate crimes in the city of Los Angeles,'' Villaraigosa said in an interview Wednesday. ``We will do everything we can to stop them.''

While there are some serious racial issues among African-Americans and Latinos living in L.A., there are also many communities where the groups peacefully coexist, said Blair H. Taylor, president of the Los Angeles Urban League.

``Quite frankly, I think there's more and more of a need for increased understanding between blacks and Latinos,'' Taylor said. ``We have far more in common than differences. We will be stronger united than divided.''

Blacks targeted

But when it comes to violent crimes, blacks are usually the target, frequently with gangs.

In Highland Park six years ago, an African-American man waiting for a bus was fatally shot by Highland Park gang members who, a year earlier, gunned down a black man as he looked for a parking space.

The gang members had conspired to harass blacks to drive them out of their neighborhoods and also to stop them from moving in, according to the federal prosecutors who put the men on trial earlier this year.

For participating in the conspiracy, three Latino gang members were sentenced in November to life in federal prison.

In October, seven black college students in Ventura County were threatened during a home-invasion robbery and told to move out of the largely Latino neighborhood where they rented a home.

The five Latino gunmen were likely gang members who targeted the students because of their race, said Ventura County sheriff's Capt. Ron Nelson.

Hate crimes are unusual for Ventura County, but is typical behavior from gangs that want to control their turf, Nelson said.

In L.A. County, where hate crimes have dropped about 30 percent from last year, blacks are more frequently targeted in growing areas, including Palmdale, Lancaster and Santa Clarita.

``Most of the ones I see when the blacks are victims is when they are in an area that has been traditionally Hispanic or white,'' said Detective Dan Zumer of the sheriff's Hate Crime Task Force. ``I don't see a lot of them, but in most cases, that is the situation.''

Varies by year

Although annual studies by the county Commission on Human Relations consistently show African-Americans are the No. 1 targeted hate group, some years see fewer crimes against blacks than others, said Commissioner Zedar Broadous, former president of the San Fernando Valley chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

But crimes against African-Americans are nothing new, he added.

``There's a reality in America. It's the elephant in the room,'' Broadous said. ``African-Americans are still discriminated against. African- Americans make easy targets. That's a stark reality.''

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com

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