VALLEY ANTI-GANG COALITION PRAISED BRATTON SINGLES OUT YEAR-OLD EFFORT.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

A creative, year-old effort to reduce gang crime in the San Fernando Valley has won support from Los Angeles' new police chief, William Bratton, who has targeted street gangs as his top priority.

Deputy Chief Ronald Bergmann launched the San Fernando Valley Coalition on Gangs more than a year ago. The coalition is a push to bring together community-based organizations and law enforcement agencies to work toward safer streets and saving lives by getting youths out of gangs and cracking down hard on those who commit crimes.

Prevention efforts, referral services and new police suppression strategies have been put on the table. And at Bergmann's suggestion, one community group has been able to get rival gangs to meet weekly and talk about laying down their guns.

Bratton, who met with Bergmann during a dinner last month, praises the Valley chief's efforts and says his thinking outside the box is a trait he's trying to instill throughout the LAPD.

``This is something I encourage in all bureaus,'' said Bratton in an interview. ``The chief's efforts are exactly what we're trying to do with the department as a whole.''

Bergmann said public support is the key to success.

``The whole reason for the coalition is to find'' new ideas for gang suppression and intervention, he said. ``A lot of people are very enthused about this, and the fact that nobody's tried to do something like this Valleywide. The enthusiasm is what's going to make this work.''

There are more than 20,000 gang members in the Valley, and nearly half of the region's 94 homicides this year were gang-related.

``That's way too many gang homicides,'' Bergmann said.

As part of the plan, he has launched a pilot project in the Foothill Division to prevent kids from joining gangs, and he is nurturing better communication and coordination among parole and probation officers, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, among others.

Working more closely with the ATF has become an increasingly more important element of the strategy.

``We're constantly working out there,'' said ATF assistant special agent in charge Mike Bukovac. ``At the ATF, we pride ourselves on working with state and local agencies all the time.''

For the understaffed LAPD, the expertise and manpower of federal law enforcement officers is critical.

``The feds can do things that we can't do,'' said an LAPD gang officer, who asked his name not be used. ``They can conduct months- and years-long probes of some of the region's worst crooks. They can go after the big game.''

ATF agents can also develop informants and work undercover and set up operations to break the backs of gun runners, drug dealers and gang members, who often go hand in hand.

``You don't have gangs without guns and narcotics without gangs,'' said Cmdr. Michel Moore, the Valley's second-in-command.

Bratton echoed that statement.

``Gangs seem to be the root cause of so much afflicting the city of Los Angeles,'' Bratton said. ``We've got to get back into the business of getting in control of the streets.''

The U.S. Attorney's Office also assists local agencies in prosecuting gang members under the 1970 federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute. This statute was used to break the backs of Italian mafia in New York, but has since expanded to include any criminal organization working illicit enterprises.

U.S. attorneys have prosecuted two prison-based gangs, the Mexican Mafia and the Aryan Brotherhood. The feds have also used RICO to target the notorious 18th Street gang.

``In recent years we have these federal RICO statutes against several particularly dangerous and violent gangs,'' said U.S. attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek. ``We always look forward when appropriate to working with our counterparts in local law enforcement to address the problems posed by street gangs and other elements that can be considered organized crime.''

On the community front, Bergmann has been wearing another hat: fund- raiser. He said he needs $30,000 to begin a billboard campaign, a gang hotline and an Internet mapping service to streamline demographic and crime data.

And in the Northeast Valley, where gangs have flourished, he's begun a Community Advocacy Program, where families can reach out to gang officers for ``Scared Straight'' sessions.

The coalition is the same premise as Bratton's community-based policing model, said Supervising Deputy Probation Officer Paul Vinetz, a coalition principal.

``There is no other program like this that has an infrastructure that is consistent with the new chief's agenda on graffiti, quality-of-life issues and the focus on reducing violent gang crime,'' he said.