Latino-vs.-black violence drives hate crimes in L.A. County to 5-year high

Hate crimes in Los Angeles County rose to their highest level in five years last year, led by attacks between Latinos and blacks, officials said Thursday.

The annual report by the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission showed hate crimes rose by 28%, to 763, with vandalism and assault leading the way, reports The Times' Teresa Watanabe.

In what commission Executive Director Robin Toma called an alarming trend, hate crimes based on race, religion and sexual orientation all rose, increasing against nearly all groups -- including blacks, gays, Jews, Mexicans, whites and Asians -- even as crime in general declined.

The largest number of racial hate crimes involved Latino suspects against black victims, followed by black suspects against Latino victims. Latinos also made up the largest number of suspects in hate crimes based on sexual orientation. Whites were the leading suspects in religion-based incidents. Overall, blacks made up nearly half the hate crime victims, totaling 310.

Read more about the report on hate crime in Los Angeles here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: Robin S. Toma, executive director of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission, presents the commission's 2007 Hate Crimes report during a news conference in Los Angeles. Hate crimes in the county soared last year to their highest mark in five years even as overall crime dropped across the region. Credit: Los Angeles Times

California gang crackdown continues

The crackdown on gangs in California continues this week. This dispatch from Francisco Vara-Orta reports that more than 120 officers raided the homes of suspected members of a Rialto street gang yesterday as San Bernardino County officials prepared to file the first gang injunction in county history against the targeted group.

Earlier this week, reports from Orange County and Los Angeles provided further details on the current battle being fought by California lawmakers and police against violent gangs.

Read on...

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: LAPD gang Det. Chris Vasquez helps pack up the command post in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium, where suspects were brought to be processed. The chart has pictures of the alleged gang members targeted, most of whom are now in custody. Credit: Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times

Anti-gang program to extend hours at L.A. parks

Our post yesterday covered the problems caused by warring Latino gangs in Orange County. This morning, we report that eight Los Angeles parks will stay open until midnight from the Fourth of July to Labor Day under Summer Night Lights, an anti-gang program launched Monday by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, writes the Los Angeles Times' David Zahniser.

The $950,000 program, part of the mayor's plan to bring social services to high-crime neighborhoods, will run from Wednesday to Sunday starting at 4 p.m.

"This program will usher in a summer of hope, safety and opportunity for local youth, and it will serve as a model for combating gang violence nationwide," Villaraigosa said in a statement.

Read on...

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano in a push against Latino gang violence

What began as teen rivalry in Orange Country in the 1920s among Latinos from neighboring San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano evolved in the 1970s into gang violence that continues today, says business owner Juan Luna, 51, whose family has lived in San Clemente more than 80 years, in this Los Angeles Times report.

H.G. Reza pays a visit to southern Orange County, which may seem unlikely territory for gang warfare, especially in one city best known for its mission and one known for its beaches and as the place where Richard Nixon once lived. But the turf feud has boiled for decades.

Read about it here...

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: Paul D'Auria, chief of police services in San Clemente, patrols the city's streets. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times.

Police sweep attempts to break gang's grip on L.A. neighborhood

Heavily armed police and federal agents stormed into a Glassell Park neighborhood Wednesday morning to wrest control away from a street gang -- and loyalists with deep family ties to its members -- that has in effect turned the sequestered swath of run-down apartments into rogue territory, write The Times' Joe Mozingo, Sam Quinones and Molly Hennessy-Fiske in L.A.

U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien called the sweep "the largest gang take-down in recent L.A. history."

According to the story, "the gang dates to the zoot suit era in Northeast Los Angeles and is closely connected to the Mexican Mafia prison gang. Twenty-six defendants were already in custody and 16 are at large."

"Prosecutors allege that the gang committed three murders, shot at police, extorted businesses, conducted home invasion robberies, taxed drug dealers for the Mexican Mafia and threatened potential witnesses -- all as part of an enterprise to distribute methamphetamine and rock cocaine in the area. Authorities say undercover agents conducted scores of drug purchases from the gang during the investigation."

Read about it here...

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: LAPD gang Det. Chris Vasquez helps pack up the command post in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium, where suspects were brought to be processed. The chart has pictures of the alleged gang members targeted, most of whom are now in custody. Credit: Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times