Police report offers strategy to fight gangs

Costa Mesa police officials are recommending the city attack its gang problem with a comprehensive strategy that includes hiring more gang officers, stepping up truancy enforcement and installing surveillance cameras.

A key element of the plan would be prevention and intervention, Costa Mesa Police Chief Christopher Shawkey said Thursday — an approach a majority of the City Council rejected in January.

The strategy was detailed in a report issued Thursday. The council will discuss it at a study session Tuesday.

Gang activity and membership in Costa Mesa have climbed significantly over the last 10 years, according to the report. Police believe there are seven criminal street gangs in the city with about 300 members, though half the members are considered inactive.

That’s three times as many gang members as police counted in the city a decade ago. Gang-related crimes also have risen recently, from six in 2005 to 29 in 2006, the report said.

The city has taken several steps to address that, and police are recommending more. Precise costs aren’t provided in the report, but it likely would require at least $500,000 for what’s requested: an additional police car, two new school resource officers, continuance of a full-time probation officer, a surveillance camera system and an anti-gang program provided by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

“I think the key point of the whole plan is that it needs to be a multifaceted approach,” Shawkey said. “So we need to have the enforcement component, which we’ve relied pretty heavily on in the past, and now we need to add the intervention and prevention part of it to make it a well-rounded plan.”

He’s recommending a school district gang intervention program called Project ASK, something the council voted against earlier this year. Councilwoman Wendy Leece said at the time that the council didn’t have enough evidence that the program works. Leece was in meetings late Thursday when the report was released and could not be reached for comment.

Now they’ll have plenty of information. About 10 pages of the 22-page report are dedicated to the school program and analyses of gang prevention strategies.

The report also mentions what police have already done: a gang hotline was set up in the last week or so, two new gang officers were added this year, and a probation officer began working for the city full time in January.

Shawkey said he plans to meet with local neighborhood watch and homeowners association leaders and hold a town hall meeting to discuss what the city is doing to fight gangs and how residents can help.