Skepticism Follows Quick Fix for Gang Violence : Crime: Effectiveness of latest plan for 30 officers to patrol gang and drug neighborhoods for only 30 days questioned.

Frank Leidendeker needs only to look out the window of his second-story apartment to see what’s wrong with City Heights.

Drugs and money often change hands behind a trash bin in the alley behind his home. Gang markings are etched on buildings around him. Just Wednesday, he stopped by his local police substation to complain.

With 13 years invested in the community, Leidendeker has seen varying efforts to set scores of police officers loose on the streets near his home and other areas of San Diego that have high rates of gang and drug violence.

This week, a new plan came from City Hall, one that would add 30 officers on overtime pay to patrol streets like his and to set up three mobile trailers to serve as command headquarters.

Having seen this type of proposal before, Leidendeker is naturally skeptical.

“You have this emergency aspect that gets all the attention and then there are complaints to the City Council and then the people around here get thrown a placebo,” said Leidendeker, nearly 70. “They try to clear everyone out, but they never sustain it. They need to keep the police around here for a while and I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

On Tuesday, Police Chief Bob Burgreen cited statistics to the City Council showing that San Diego has had 97 homicides this year, up 16 from this date last year, which was one of the city’s deadliest. He said there have been 46 drive-by shootings so far this year--11 this month alone--that have resulted in 44 injuries and three deaths.

Last week Burgreen brought those statistics to City Manager Jack McGrory and they passed along the information to the council that something had to be done. The council Tuesday authorized Burgreen to spend $300,000 from his budget to place off-duty officers on overtime in the neighborhoods of City Heights, Logan Heights and Southeast San Diego.

As part of the proposal, Burgreen and Sheriff Jim Roache are to find jail space for drug offenders and gang members, although such room is scarce.

New plans to fight gang and drug violence emerge each year. In 1990, a number of federal, state and local enforcement agencies banded together in two high-profile operations to target the Crips and Bloods gang members in “Operation Red Rag” and “Operation Blue Rag.” Between the two investigations, nearly 200 registered gang members, or 4% of the city’s total, were arrested.

Two years ago, the Police Department established a special enforcement division to fight gangs, including at some of the same locations targeted Tuesday. In 1988, police announced an increase in manpower to fight gangs during the Memorial Day holiday and for months thereafter.

In 1987, the San Diego County district attorney’s office was awarded a $1-million grant to combat youth gangs.

What effect, if any, 30 uniformed officers would have patrolling a wide-ranging area for 30 days is uncertain.

Operation “Red Rag,” which targeted Blood gangs, lasted five months. Operation “Blue Rag,” which went after Crips gangs, took nine months.

Undercover officers used informants--former gang members--and either videotaped or audiotaped drug buys. The operations were not publicized. Investigators were able to make dozens of felony convictions because they had targeted violent offenders with criminal histories.

The City Council’s plan involves 30 uniformed officers walking patrol for a month and looking for random narcotics and gang activity.

Lt. Dennis Gibson, head of the special enforcement division, said it will be difficult to find ex-felons during these random patrols unless police stumble upon them.

“If we stop someone with a handgun and they have no record, in most cases, we’re writing misdemeanor citations and we’re not booking those now,” he said. “If it’s a juvenile, we end up taking that person home. That’s not a lot of deterrent. So for 30 days, we’ll have the gangs out of business. After that, only time will tell.”

Even Capt. Kraig Kessler, Gibson’s boss, admits that the success of the operation depends on “how many people I can get arrested for felonies and if I can get them convicted, how lucky I can get sending them away for long periods of time. Anything less than that is a short-term solution.”

Another potential problem is that the anti-gang program approved by the City Council was announced with such fanfare by the mayor and other council members that it made every television newscast and newspaper in San Diego.

“You announce to a crook that’s ripping you off that you’re coming to get him and you think he’s going to be around by the time you get there?” said an agitated Rev. George Walker Smith, a former San Diego school board member and black community leader.

“And you’re going to spend only 30 days doing it? You better do it for 30 more days after that,” he said. “If not, these gangs will go underground. If you’re going to do this on a continuous, 24-hour basis, fine. This is serious. Too many lives are being lost.”

The public should not expect “the traditional L.A. gang sweep where you take 10,000 guys off the street and put them into custody,” said Keith Burt, chief of the gang prosecution unit for the district attorney’s office.

“The visual presence of law enforcement tends to reduce crime because (gang members) don’t act out in front of authority,” he said. “They’ll go underground or find other locations out of San Diego. From our standpoint, we’re a countywide agency. If they leave San Diego and go to Chula Vista or National City, it’s still a problem for us.”

McGrory acknowledged the concerns but says the latest efforts are better than doing nothing.

“It puts a dent in the problem for 30 days, if nothing else,” he said. “It sends a strong message to the gangs and these drug dealers that a higher-profile department intends to knock heads.”