The clubs, or casitas, in South L.A. are connected to homicides, drug trafficking and gambling, LAPD says.
By Richard Winton
July 25, 2009
A notorious Los Angeles street gang has expanded its criminal enterprises into the night life world, authorities said.
The Los Angeles Police Department and federal agents said the 18th Street gang operated underground after-hours bars, using them as bases for various criminal enterprises. Authorities said the locations have been connected to homicides, drug trafficking and gambling.
A series of recent busts at the bars resulted in the arrests of 34 gang members and associates on local and federal charges, authorities said Friday. The arrests are the culmination of an 18-month federal and local probe into so-called casitas concealed in South L.A. homes and closed stores.
"These were bars operating in the wee hours, putting the community at risk," said LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese. "These locations resulted in homicides, shootings and other violent crime."
At least three homicides in the 77th Street Division area of South L.A. have occurred in or around the casitas. LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith cited the case of 35-year-old Rosa Garcia, whose body was found in an alley in the 1500 block of Florence Avenue in January. Smith said investigators believe her death was connected to a nearby casita she frequented.
During raids on five bars since late June, investigators seized $142,000 that would have gone to the gang, authorities say. Albanese said it reflects the importance of these bars as sources for funding gang activity.
"These locations were running seven nights a week," he said.
One illegal after-hours club was just a few blocks from the 77th Street police station, next to a tattoo parlor, authorities say. Patrons entered through an unmarked door and the operator had deliberately spray-painted the wrong address outside, authorities said.
Investigators say taxicab drivers and others in the know would direct patrons or deliver customers to the doors.
Investigators suspect that illegal after-hours bars are popping up all over the L.A. region as gangs look for new ways to make money. Gang members were recently caught running an illegal bar in Salt Lake City.
According to authorities, patrons pay to enter the illegal clubs, where they can buy drugs and alcohol and have access to prostitutes and slot machines.
The clubs are often in neighborhoods where the gang members use intimidation to keep residents from notifying authorities, investigators say.
At a bar raided June 25 near the intersection of 60th Street and Vermont Avenue, Albanese said, "we pulled 50 people out of that location at 3 a.m."
During the investigation known as Operation Treadstone, LAPD and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also seized 15 illegal firearms, 18 slot machines and 200 pounds of illegal fireworks from 19 locations.
Investigators say some of the targets of the arrests are key members of the 18th Street gang, one of the oldest, largest and most heavily entrenched gangs in Southern California.
Last month, a federal grand jury indicted nine alleged members and associates of the 18th Street gang.
richard.winton@latimes.com
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
State unable to combat prison gangs for lack of funding, manpower
State unable to combat prison gangs for lack of funding, manpower
Posted by glubin July 19, 2009 07:14AM
State investigators say they're losing ground in the fight to control gangs in New Jersey prisons because they don't have enough manpower and funding.
The criticism of operations at the prisons, leveled by unions representing investigators and corrections officers, comes two months after the State Commission of Investigation said the state was failing to stop inmates from smuggling drugs, communicating with illegal cell phones and coordinating criminal activity from behind bars
Union leaders said the Department of Corrections' approximately 100-member Special Investigations Division has lost nine people in three years and operates without a chief. Each prison has only one investigator monitoring gang activity, and a single person analyzes confiscated cell phones for the entire department, they said.
"It's becoming very difficult for us to do our job," said Neil Layden, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 174, which represents 92 Corrections investigators. "We don't have the funding nor the people."
In May the SCI, which reports to the Legislature, released a report saying prisons are like a "branch office" for gang members and calling the situation "intolerable."
The SCI also said prison investigators are overwhelmed: "Given the magnitude and multiplicity of its responsibilities, (the Special Investigations Division) is undersized, insufficiently funded and, as currently structured, unable to effectively and efficiently fulfill its vital mission, particularly with regard to suppressing gang activity."
Layden is concerned the SCI report has fallen on deaf ears.
"It seems like it's not going anywhere," he said. "We talked to everyone who would listen."
Corrections Commissioner George Hayman declined to comment for this report, as did the highest-ranking investigator, Assistant Chief Wayne Everett.
After the SCI report was released, Hayman issued a statement saying Corrections is "dealing proactively" with its gang problem. "We continue to house an offender population -- bent toward violence and power struggles -- with a minimum of disturbances," he said.
The department declined to comment on staffing or equipment within the division.
"It would not be in the best interests of safety and security to disclose this information in a public forum," Corrections spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer said.
Fedkenheuer also said the investigators do not have a set budget and she could not say how much is spent on the division.
Like much of state government, Corrections was hit by the budget crunch. Its funding dropped by about $40 million to $1.156 billion.
Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), chairman of the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee, said he intends to hold a hearing following up on the SCI report when the Legislature convenes again later this year.
Johnson said the state should explore new ways to deter cell phone use, but didn't criticize Corrections or Hayman.
"I think he is doing all that he can," Johnson said. "This is a major problem that takes time to address."
Assemblyman David Rible (R-Monmouth) has twice called for a hearing on the report. Echoing SCI's findings, he said prisons "are being run as corporate headquarters for the gangs."
"When you're being sentenced to prison, it's supposed to be a rehabilitation time period, as well as paying time for your crime," Rible said. "I don't think you should be in there accelerating crime outside the jail."
Corrections spokesman Matt Schuman said the department was "among the first" to use dogs to detect cell phones, finding 118 phones, 21 batteries and 121 chargers since October. He also said Hayman supports changes to federal regulations that would allow the jamming of cell phone signals in prisons.
Wayne Robbins, Lodge 174's vice president and a principal investigator in Corrections, said cell phones are so prevalent, inmates don't even worry when one is taken away.
"They'll say all right, I got my next one coming in," he said.
Meanwhile, Robbins said each investigative unit has to share one cell phone among a half-dozen investigators.
"Inmates have better cellular capabilities than we do," he said.
Mike Goodman, vice president of New Jersey Policemen's Benevolent Association Local 105, which represents about 7,000 Corrections officers, said the use of cell phones has made prisons less safe.
"They're getting more skillful in regards to communicating," he said. "It's tough to maintain control."
Fedkenheuer said 19 percent of inmates are formally identified as gang members. In its report, the SCI said a top Corrections official testified under oath that up to half the inmate population "may be involved in some way" with a gang.
The SCI report also said having the same investigators probe gangs in prison and potential corruption of prison employees hampered anti-gang efforts. It said corrections officers shied away from working with investigators "for fear that they will themselves become targets of investigation" while investigators "are leery of establishing a working relationship with many custody officers due to their concern over corruption within the uniformed ranks."
Fedkenheuer said that issue was resolved, citing "a clear line of demarcation" between the two functions the last two years.
But Layden said staffing shortages have forced some investigators to handle both responsibilities.
"We're still doing internal affairs work," he said. "It's a difficult task to one day talk to someone about a situation and the next day investigate them about another incident."
Chris Megerian may be reached at (609) 989-0208 or cmegerian@starledger.com.
Posted by glubin July 19, 2009 07:14AM
State investigators say they're losing ground in the fight to control gangs in New Jersey prisons because they don't have enough manpower and funding.
The criticism of operations at the prisons, leveled by unions representing investigators and corrections officers, comes two months after the State Commission of Investigation said the state was failing to stop inmates from smuggling drugs, communicating with illegal cell phones and coordinating criminal activity from behind bars
Union leaders said the Department of Corrections' approximately 100-member Special Investigations Division has lost nine people in three years and operates without a chief. Each prison has only one investigator monitoring gang activity, and a single person analyzes confiscated cell phones for the entire department, they said.
"It's becoming very difficult for us to do our job," said Neil Layden, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 174, which represents 92 Corrections investigators. "We don't have the funding nor the people."
In May the SCI, which reports to the Legislature, released a report saying prisons are like a "branch office" for gang members and calling the situation "intolerable."
The SCI also said prison investigators are overwhelmed: "Given the magnitude and multiplicity of its responsibilities, (the Special Investigations Division) is undersized, insufficiently funded and, as currently structured, unable to effectively and efficiently fulfill its vital mission, particularly with regard to suppressing gang activity."
Layden is concerned the SCI report has fallen on deaf ears.
"It seems like it's not going anywhere," he said. "We talked to everyone who would listen."
Corrections Commissioner George Hayman declined to comment for this report, as did the highest-ranking investigator, Assistant Chief Wayne Everett.
After the SCI report was released, Hayman issued a statement saying Corrections is "dealing proactively" with its gang problem. "We continue to house an offender population -- bent toward violence and power struggles -- with a minimum of disturbances," he said.
The department declined to comment on staffing or equipment within the division.
"It would not be in the best interests of safety and security to disclose this information in a public forum," Corrections spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer said.
Fedkenheuer also said the investigators do not have a set budget and she could not say how much is spent on the division.
Like much of state government, Corrections was hit by the budget crunch. Its funding dropped by about $40 million to $1.156 billion.
Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), chairman of the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee, said he intends to hold a hearing following up on the SCI report when the Legislature convenes again later this year.
Johnson said the state should explore new ways to deter cell phone use, but didn't criticize Corrections or Hayman.
"I think he is doing all that he can," Johnson said. "This is a major problem that takes time to address."
Assemblyman David Rible (R-Monmouth) has twice called for a hearing on the report. Echoing SCI's findings, he said prisons "are being run as corporate headquarters for the gangs."
"When you're being sentenced to prison, it's supposed to be a rehabilitation time period, as well as paying time for your crime," Rible said. "I don't think you should be in there accelerating crime outside the jail."
Corrections spokesman Matt Schuman said the department was "among the first" to use dogs to detect cell phones, finding 118 phones, 21 batteries and 121 chargers since October. He also said Hayman supports changes to federal regulations that would allow the jamming of cell phone signals in prisons.
Wayne Robbins, Lodge 174's vice president and a principal investigator in Corrections, said cell phones are so prevalent, inmates don't even worry when one is taken away.
"They'll say all right, I got my next one coming in," he said.
Meanwhile, Robbins said each investigative unit has to share one cell phone among a half-dozen investigators.
"Inmates have better cellular capabilities than we do," he said.
Mike Goodman, vice president of New Jersey Policemen's Benevolent Association Local 105, which represents about 7,000 Corrections officers, said the use of cell phones has made prisons less safe.
"They're getting more skillful in regards to communicating," he said. "It's tough to maintain control."
Fedkenheuer said 19 percent of inmates are formally identified as gang members. In its report, the SCI said a top Corrections official testified under oath that up to half the inmate population "may be involved in some way" with a gang.
The SCI report also said having the same investigators probe gangs in prison and potential corruption of prison employees hampered anti-gang efforts. It said corrections officers shied away from working with investigators "for fear that they will themselves become targets of investigation" while investigators "are leery of establishing a working relationship with many custody officers due to their concern over corruption within the uniformed ranks."
Fedkenheuer said that issue was resolved, citing "a clear line of demarcation" between the two functions the last two years.
But Layden said staffing shortages have forced some investigators to handle both responsibilities.
"We're still doing internal affairs work," he said. "It's a difficult task to one day talk to someone about a situation and the next day investigate them about another incident."
Chris Megerian may be reached at (609) 989-0208 or cmegerian@starledger.com.
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