Shootings Cited : Anti-Gang Unit Formed in Burbank

Three drive-by shootings in the last month, including one in which a bullet shattered the windshield of a car containing two detectives, have spurred Burbank police to form a task force to combat gang activities.

Sgt. Don Goldberg said the 10-officer unit, formed this week, will be part of a high-profile crackdown in which police will “make life miserable” for gang members who congregate at fast-food restaurants, parks and schools and in neighborhoods in the city.

“We are trying to make it uncomfortable for the hoodlums to come into our community,” Goldberg said. “We do have a gang problem here, certainly not to the extent as parts of Los Angeles. . . . But the department believes it is time that we have a gang suppression unit. We plan on intercepting gang members whenever and wherever possible.”

Officers will identify suspected gang members, detain and question them, search them and their cars and make arrests for any infractions, Goldberg said.

“The message will be, ‘If you are a gang member, don’t hang around here,’ ” said Goldberg, who acknowledged that the department’s methods may be criticized as heavy-handed.

‘Toes Stepped On’

“There are going to be some people who get their toes stepped on,” he said. “We may have some people unhappy. Unfortunately, there will be some people stopped and questioned who are not gang members.

“But it is not going to be an indiscriminate stopping of people,” he said. “It is going to be people whose dress indicate gang membership, people who are known to us as gang members or are hanging out at known gang locations.”

Though the task force was instituted Monday, its impact is not expected to be felt until this weekend, since gang activities are most prevalent on weekends. Goldberg said the department has not decided how long to use the task force.

Previously, the department had one detective working full time on gang crimes and had assigned other officers as needed. The new anti-gang unit was formed after drive-by shootings occurred in the 1300 block of North San Fernando Boulevard on Aug. 26, Sept. 3, and on Friday, Goldberg said.

The shootings occurred in parking areas at three fast-food restaurants that are popular teen gathering spots on weekend nights, police said.

A bystander who was shot in the arm during the first incident was the only known injury.

“It’s a miracle nobody else has been hit,” Goldberg said. “In the second case, seven shots were fired at a car with six people in it. Nobody was hit.”

Two Burbank teen-agers and two North Hollywood teen-agers, all believed to be gang members, were arrested after that shooting, Goldberg said.

In Friday night’s shooting, about 100 people were in cars or standing in the parking lot when 10 shots were fired from a passing car, Goldberg said.

One of the shots shattered the windshield of a car containing two detectives who were watching the area because of the earlier shootings. The detectives were not injured, Goldberg said.

Other detectives in the area chased the car the shots had come from and arrested two North Hollywood gang members, ages 16 and 17.

Police said the arrests indicate that much of the gang problem in Burbank comes from outside the city.

“The biggest problem we have is gang members coming from other areas, such as North Hollywood and Sun Valley,” Goldberg said.

Police believe the shootings were acts of revenge for previous gang confrontations and illustrate how gang members freely cross city boundaries.

“We have members of gangs over here that live over there and vice versa,” said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Ray Davies, head of the anti-gang unit in North Hollywood. “They don’t say, ‘Whoops, I can’t cross that line because over there is another town.’ They join where they want to and go where they want to.”

Manuel Torres, manager of Tommy’s hamburger restaurant, which is on San Fernando Boulevard close to where the shootings took place, said he welcomes the police task force. But he said he is concerned that the crackdown may keep away customers who are not involved in gang activities.

“The kids coming here on the weekend are my bread and butter,” he said. “Of course, I want it to be safe for them, but I don’t want the police to keep them away. So I am happy but worried.”