More than 1,100 officers, agents conduct gang sweep in South L.A.

More than 1,100 Los Angeles police officers and FBI agents conducted a crackdown early this morning on the “Rolling 40s” gang in an attempt to lessen its stronghold in South Los Angeles, authorities said.

The gang sweep, which is targeting 75 gang members and associates, followed an 18-month investigation, said Lt. John Romano of LAPD. Most of the arrests will be made on narcotics and weapons charges, he said.

The sweep was bordered by Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the north, 52nd Street on the south, the 110 Freeway on the east and Crenshaw Boulevard on the west.

-- My-Thuan Tran

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Comments

[roy]

GOOD!
Hopefully they can clear these pests out and make it a safe neighborhool again.

[AdoptiveFather, Los Angeles CA]

Gang math.

1,100 officers at $300 each per day = $330,000.

$330,000 divided by 75 gang members = $4,400 each.

Just for one day, just one city.

And let the court costs mount.

And we wonder why we are in financial trouble??

[Albert]

Catch all of those low life desructive bastards and sent them straight to prison without the benefit of a trial. this is what they are doing to innocent people everyday.

[John D. Coffey]

Let's see, at an average wage of $40 an hour, the 1,100 law enforcement agents cost 44,000 an hour times approximately 10 hours equals $440,000 of taxpayer money for the day. This investigation has been going on for at least 18 months, so let's be conservative and add only another $440,000 for that. This totals to $880,000, almost a million. What will it solve? Temporarily it will take 75 miscreants off the streets. Will it change anyone's mind, let alone change a life? Highly doubtful. A million dollars spent on focused jobs and basic literacy programs would save some that have not hardened into dedicated criminals. With AHNOLD facing time in jail on contempt charges relating to prison overcrowding, and another case on failure to provide adequate, or any, medical care to current inmates, these 75 will not stay in the system very long. Then what? Another gestapo like raid? Another million dollars? The reality is, every time law enforcement surrounds a house and breaks down the door in these neighborhoods, the risk of another armed confrontation turning into another Watts riot is there. Gangs have been allowed to become a fact of life in parts of LA County. The law enforcement solutions have been ineffective and counter productive. Can we try something else for awhile? While we still have the opportunity to do so?

[KK]

About time to clean up the streets. We spend trillions in foreign wars fighting a few thousand bad guys and forgot here at home gangs numbering in millions the whole country combined. LA alone is six figures and counting.

[Mike]

Good work and keep it up!

[Amanda]

I'm glad they are doing this, but 1100 officers for 75 suspects equals 14 officers per suspect. Perhaps that's necessary, of course there are not details about whether any of these suspects are armed or anything, but still--14 per? Just seems really high.

[Mr. Cynic]

Yay, more bandaid solutions.... this will surely solve the gang problem in the US...

[kooo]

Nothing is free. The $ spent of this is divided by the multiple agencies both state, local, and federal, and these kind of expenditures are the most efficient way to use tax dollars... it benefits public safety directly. Less tagging, murder, robbery, extortion, violence, and future $$$ saved by not having to "process" these elements later in the future. This should be called "Operation Pest Control".

[TheBigPicture]

They targeted 75 gang associates...probably arrested half that...The vast majority of that 75 will be out in less than two months.

These people are very costly...they will never be productive members of society and they are criminals 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, many times they work overtime during the weekends...They are career criminals...

They should be given long sentences providing free meaningful labor in prison compounds or stripped of their citizenship and deported to Somalia...If we started doing this, everyone would wakeup and smell the coffee...You would be saving many young kids from gangs and communities from crime...It's a win, win...

but this will never happen...less crime means less need for police officers, prosecutors, judges...so instead we keep the perpetual crime wave going. They will handout a lot of meaningless penalties and the gangsters are out in no time victimizing others...

[JOe]

To the math wizards trying to downplay the significance of this operation: These officers are ALREADY employed. They earn 40 bucks an hour if they are behind a desk, patroling or arresting suspects. Might as well arrest suspects. It won't solve the gang problem, but it does show action and does make a dent. And who cares if it is 14 cops per suspect or 140? If it gets the bigger fish, it's worth it. Gangs will always exist, but they shouldn't be able to act with impunity. Well done.

[Don't drink the kool-aid]

Fear the police cartel more than these thugs... This is just another attempt at trying to justify their over priced salaries. 14 officers per defendant = not worth it. What a waste of money. I can see them now, all huddling around giving themselves High-5's. I hope they do not expect us to pay for their pizza lunch?

the police cartel along with the fire whiners departments prey on your safety.

But in the end it's our faults for letting them take away our 2nd amendment rights.

[Warren]

The best way to fight the war on drugs would be to legalize marijuana. Marijuana is the most profitable product that the street gangs sell. Legalize it, tax it and regluate it for the benefit of all.

[Noel Guerra]

I'm sick and tired of the Wall Street mentality that adds up, and tally's all of the costs, then turns around and doesn't invest in the areas of town that are infested with these types of criminals because "there are gang members there."

[aldaeron]

This is the cost of the Constitution. Did it take an estimated $1M and 18 months for the cops to know who these gang members were and what kind of crimes they were committing? Very unlikely. It took all that time and money to gather enough evidence to prosecute the 75 people successfully in court. They all have the right to a fair trail. It is really tough to prove guilt when witnesses die, weapons/drugs can't be found or tied to living suspects and the locals are too afraid for their lives to testify. Also the cops were probably trying to get as many of the high profile gang members on big charges so they are in jail for quite a while.

Also, the cost estimate is likely wrong. The article says it took 1100 people to carry out the arrest (so that there were not bloody battles in residential neighborhoods), not 1100 people working full time to gather the evidence, perform surveillance etc.

The real question is whether or not this is an effective deterrent. Will a power vacuum cause 75 (or 100) new people to move up in the gang? Or cause a violent war for the turf of the 75 people who are now in jail? Given California's current prison situation, how long will these 75 really be in jail?

What is the cost of not prosecuting these gangs as they grow to a certain size? As they become entrenched in neighborhoods they become tougher to get rid of (they get more organized, bigger better weapons, better training as fighters, often more aggressive). Also what about the rights of the people who live in those neighborhoods that have been trampled by the gangs?

The interesting question, especially in California, is what happens as the state becomes to poor to provide for its citizens?

[phoenixandrew]

Gang members are no different from cockroaches. They need to be squashed.

[Sonja]

ok smart one, whats your brilliant plan to feel safe in your neighborhood then? or are you someone who makes 6 digits a year? because otherwise, you have the risk of being shot in a drive-by gone wrong. And if you do get hurt by something gang-related, is your family going to sue the state of california for not protecting you in your own neighborhood?
No matter what anyone plans to do to try to stop this problem, it's going to cost money.

[D]

These raids have been working and im glad the LAPD is consistently putting the pressure on these idiots. When you remove them from the streets, the younger kids are not as influenced. also, remember that they are being charged with federal crimes if im not mistaken and they are getting min 10 year sentences. I think they are charging RICO on them too.

[Alma]

Keep up the good work getting rid of this scum off the streets!