Death linked to gangs in San Fernando Valley

Canyon News ^ | Oct 22, 2006 | Jane Tran

[bd476]

NORTH HOLLYWOOD—An 18-year-old was killed in a gang-related homicide. Authorities said it is the latest gang fatality to happen in the San Fernando Valley.

Walter Lopez was shot in the back on Wednesday at 9 p.m. near Troost Avenue and Sylvan Street. Police said it was a gang shooting, but no arrests have been made.

Early Thursday, a corner of the apartment entrance near where Lopez was killed was turned into a makeshift memorial. A picture of the slain youth was visible on the blood-stained steps and sidewalk nearby, where passersby, family and friends have placed flowers and votive candles.

Anyone with information can call the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood division at 818-623-4016.

Gang-related violence has soared within the past 10 months, with 36 killings total. Lopez’s death is the 37th gang-related killing in the San Fernando Valley this year, up one more death than the total last year. In some neighborhoods, gang crimes have escalated 50 percent over the last year.

While gang crimes have been prevalent in areas such as Central and South Los Angeles, the Valley has had 915 gang-related crimes through September, up from 688 last year.

In the San Fernando Valley, there is an estimated 80 gangs with around 20,000 members. Just five years ago, there were 70 gangs with 15,000 members. There is an increased need for police, as reports have showed that for every 230 gang members, there is only one police officer to restrain them.

On Oct. 28, there will be a peace march to help draw attention to gang prevention efforts. Groups such as the San Fernando Valley Coalition on Gangs, Communities in Schools, The Los Angeles Police Department, and other sponsors will be there at 9 a.m. at North Hills Community Park to start the march.

Following the event will be a health fair and softball tournament, ending with refreshments at Sepulveda Recreation Center.

[bd476]

Los Angeles Police Department Chief William Bratton has responded to the increased gang murders and gang violence by promising no increase in the number of LAPD officers for the San Fernando Valley.

The glass is always half-full and to demonstrate this fine principle I have written a list of all the benefits resulting from Chief Bratton's decree.

A freeze on the number of LAPD officers assigned to the San Fernando Valley will result in:

• removal of the negative terms "gangs" and "gang-bangers" from LAPD vernacular in exchange for the more pleasant terms "social clubs" and "social club members";
  
  
• increased entrepreneurial money-making opportunities in the San Fernando Valley;
  
  
• in the category "happy hands are busy hands" increased membership in social clubs;
  
  
• better use of alley-ways and cul-de-sacs as 24 hour drive through pharmacies make a comeback;
  
  
• end of all night LAPD and District Attorney sessions trying to make RICO laws applicable to social clubs;
  
  
• more police officers manning the L.A. downtown area making it safer for residents housed on downtown sidewalks;
  
  
• more money for the Los Angeles Unified School District building fund;
  
  
• improved shooting skills of social club members as they practice on moving targets in the San Fernando Valley;
  
  
• homes will become more affordable as property values decrease;
  
  
• increase in revenue for local hospitals at least until social club members' shooting skills improve;
  
  
• decreased traffic throughout the San Fernando Valley as innocent bystander kills increase;
  
  
• increased revenue for female walking workers and their supervisors along major Valley thoroughfares;
  
  
• decreased motor vehicle and fuel costs for the LAPD;
  
  
• decrease in overtime pay to write crime reports; and
  
  
• more T1-T4 Internet time for officers at local stations.

[bd476]

More:

Boys, 14 and 15, held in drive-by Police: Teens shot at rival taggers

No more cops for the Valley (Secession was a good thing)

[bannie]

Parents, it's up to you.

(Of course, the parents who are failing their kids in this area aren't exactly FReeping.)

[RoadTest]

Illegals?

[libbybelle]

I thought we were fighting terrorists in Iraq so we wouldn't have to fight them here?

[Kimberly GG]

"I thought we were fighting terrorists in Iraq so we wouldn't have to fight them here?"

Seems some Republicans haven't yet figured out such mantra is nothing more than intentional OBL speak and until our borders are effective secured from terrorists so that dirty bombs aren't exploding in their backyards, we will lose the WOT. We must unite as a party immediately, in spite of what Bush wants, and stop the OBL agenda from moving forward in some ridiculous spirit of bipartisan compromise.

[bd476]

libbybelle wrote: "I thought we were fighting terrorists in Iraq so we wouldn't have to fight them here?"

Excellent point, Libbybelle. Gang members are terrorists.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Subtle, sarcastic... great rant.

[bd476]

Tijeras_Slim wrote: "Subtle, sarcastic... great rant."

TS, thank you! I am truly flattered. :-)

[DumpsterDiver]

Illegals?

A lot of them are.

Hispanic Gangs in the San Fernando Valley of the City of Los Angeles

1. Alley Street Locos, Chatsworth area
2. Astoria Garden Locos
3. Barrio Van Nuys (BVN), Van Nuys area
4. Blythe Street (BST 13), Panorama City area
5. Boys From the Hood
6. Brown Pride Raza (BPR), Northridge area
7. Brown Pride Surenos (BPS), Northridge area
8. Bryant Street, Northridge area
9. Canoga Park Alabama Street, Chatsworth area
10. Columbus Street (CST 13)
11. Dead End Boys, Pacoima area
12. Eighteen Street North Side, North Hollywood area
13. Haskel Street Locos, Van Nuys area
14. High Times Familia (City of San Fernando)
15. Latin Times Pacoima (LTP), Pacoima area
16. Lennox Street (LNX 13), Van Nuys area
17. Mara Salvatrucha (MS),
18. North Hollywood Boyz (NHBZ), North Hollywood area
19. North Hollywood Locos (NHLS), North Hollywood area
20. North Side 18th Street, North Hollywood area
21. Pacas Knock Knock Boys, Pacoima area
22. Pacas Pierce St, Pacoima area
23. Pacoima 13 aka Pacas 13, Pacoima area
24. Pacoima Flats (PF), Pacoima area
25. Pacoima Humphrey Boyz (PHBS), Pacoima area
26. Pacoima Project Boyz, aka Paca Project Boys (PJB), Pacoima area
27. Pacoima Vaught (Von) Street (PVST), Pacoima area
28. Paxton Street Locos (PSL), Pacoima area
29. Radford Street, North Hollywood area
30. Reseda, West Side (WSR), Reseda area
31. Reseda, East Side (ESR), Reseada area
32. San Fers 13 (City of San Fernando)
33. Sepas Langdon Street, North Hills area
34. Shakin' Cats, Pacoima area
35. Sol Valle Diablos, Sun Valley area
36. Tokers (TKS), Van Nuys area
37. Valerio Street Locos (VSLC 13), Van Nuys area
38. Van Owen Street Locos 13, Van Nuys area
39. Vineland Boyz

Hispanic Gangs in Los Angeles County

There are about 500 Sureño Hispanic gangs in Los Angeles County representing over 50% of the gang memberbership. They are more geographically distributed throughout the region and are found in significant numbers in the San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, the Beach commmunities, Long Beach, Compton and South Los Angeles.

Hispanic Gangs in the City of San Fernando

1. High Times Familia (City of San Fernando)
2. San Fers 13 (City of San Fernando)

Hispanic Gang and Surenos in Los Angeles City - this website has a list of links to different gang-infested areas of Loa Angeles.

[bd476]

RoadTest wrote: "Illegals?"

Gang affiliations include all races and ethnicities. Two of the deadliest are the Vietnamese gangs and the Russian mafia.

Race/Ethnicity of Gang Members

Respondents provided information regarding the race/ethnicity of youth gang members in their jurisdiction per survey year.

• Law enforcement agencies report a greater percentage of Hispanic/Latino and African American/black gang members compared to other race/ethnicities.
• The racial/ethnic composition of gang members as reported by law enforcement is virtually unchanged in the 2001–2004 survey period compared with the 1996–1999 survey period.

The bar chart is entitled “Race/Ethnicity of Gang Members.” Displayed horizontally are the four race/ethnicity groups—African American/black, Hispanic/Latino, Caucasian/White, and Other—and displayed vertically are percentages from 0 to 50. The categories “1996-1999 Average” and “2001-2004 Average” are presented as the data points. The heading entitled “Race/Ethnicity of Gang Members” includes bullet points which describe this bar chart." Analysis for this section pertains only to those law enforcement agencies reporting gang problems.

---

Race/Ethnicity of Gang Members by Area Type

The race/ethnicity of youth gang members is compared across area types.

• Across all area types, the majority of law enforcement agencies report that African American/black and/or Hispanic/Latino youth predominate among documented gang members.
• However, additional analysis reveals an important underlying relationship between gang membership size, gang-problem onset, and race/ethnicity characteristics—agencies reporting smaller numbers of gang members or a relatively new emergence of gang problems are significantly more likely to report a greater percentage of Caucasian/white gang members. For example, larger cities with newer gang problems are over twice as likely to report greater variation in racial/ethnic composition of gang members (that is, proportionally fewer African American/black and/or Hispanic/Latino gang members) than larger cities with long-standing gang problems.

The bar chart is entitled “Race/Ethnicity of Gang Members by Area Type, 2004.” Displayed horizontally are the four area types—larger cities, suburban counties, smaller cities, and rural counties—and displayed vertically are percentages from 0 to 60. The four race/ethnicity groups—African American/black, Hispanic/Latino, Caucasian/White, and Other—are presented as the data points. The heading entitled “Race/Ethnicity of Gang Members by Area Type” includes bullet points which describe this bar chart."

Reference:

Institute for Intergovernmental Research
Law Enforcement Research and Training
National Youth Gang Survey Analysis

[bd476]

DumpsterDiver wrote: "
(roadtest wrote:) 'Illegals?'

"A lot of them are.
Hispanic Gangs in the San Fernando Valley of the City of Los Angeles"

Dumpster Diver, thank you for your list of gangs.

Correction though, Hispanic gang affiliation does not imply illegal immigration status.

Current local gang members are more often than not born in the USA, with the exception of some gang members within in Mara Salvatrucha, some within the Vietnamese gangs and the Russians.

[bd476]

bannie wrote: "Parents, it's up to you. (Of course, the parents who are failing their kids in this area aren't exactly FReeping.)"

That is true Bannie.

[RoadTest]

These charts are interesting but they're kind of generalized for my question. I was wondering about this particular incident.

Good data, thought. Thanks for posting it.

[bd476]

RoadTest wrote: "These charts are interesting but they're kind of generalized for my question. I was wondering about this particular incident.

Good data, thought. Thanks for posting it.

A man was shot dead. Dead is dead. He would not be any less dead if the gang members/murderers had been citizens, legal residents or visiting on a vacation visa.

Here's another case:

Boys, 14 and 15, held in drive-by Police: Teens shot at rival taggers

[DumpsterDiver]

Correction though, Hispanic gang affiliation does not imply illegal immigration status.

I didn't say that it did. I said that a lot of gang members are illegal aliens because a lot of gang members are here illegally.

[Clintonfatigued]

I can remember when San Fernando was associated with mallrats, silly lingo (immortalized by Moon Zappa) and cruising in garish, over-accessorized vans. I must be ancient.

[bannie]

At our small high school , a few years ago the parents got together with the school to stop rampant gang activity. Changes were made, and they cleaned it up--at least, while at school. I know that there is still plenty happening in the small town; but school, at least, is a safe place to be.

[doug from upland]

I know how to solve this. We need more illegal aliens in the San Fernando Valley. Then, decent people would be able to walk the streets again.

[bd476]

DumpsterDiver wrote: "

(bd476 wrote:) 'Correction though, Hispanic gang affiliation does not imply illegal immigration status.'

I didn't say that it did. I said that a lot of gang members are illegal aliens because a lot of gang members are here illegally."

There is a misunderstanding here. I stand by my correction where I said that Hispanic gang affiliation does not imply immigration status specifically because you said that a lot of gang members are illegal aliens.

Perhaps if you defined "a lot" and then backed it up with a source, that'd help.

I searched and could find no statistics on the immigration status of gang members but maybe you have a source with the information.

From my back porch, I can see the result of gangs' increasing violence yet at least in my neighborhood, the violence has come without any illegal alien indelible stamps. The graffiti is in English, the guns are AK-47s and Uzis.

The dead are spread across all cultures and ages and according to the long list I posted here

National Youth Gang Center: 169 Gang-Related News Articles from Oct. 1 thru Nov. 7

gang membership and violence has spread across the country.