Officers Swarm South LA in Gang Crackdown

By JONATHAN LLOYD

Updated 5:31 PM PST, Thu, Oct 22, 2009

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More than 45 people had been arrested by 7 a.m. Thursday in a major gang crackdown in South LA.

Hundreds of police officers and federal agents served warrants on the Rolling 40s. The gang has a "vice grip" on the neighborhood, according to police.

Authorities said the operation involves about 1,100 law enforcement agents. They plan to serve warrants for 75 individuals.

Authorities set up a booking area in a parking lot in Exposition Park.

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"They have a vise grip on the neighborhood, and we are going to release that grip this morning," LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese said.

The operation is part of a 16-month investigation.

Neighborhoods in which the warrants were served included Crenshaw, Jefferson Park, West Adams, Baldwin Village, University Park, Athens Park, Gramercy Park and Hyde Park.

Families get to raise their children, send the kids to school, without as much fear involving this particular street gang. ... The communities are held hostage, in a sense," Albanese said.

The FBI's Laura Eimiller said more than 500 people have been arrested since May in 10 Southern California anti-gang sweeps.

The sweep occurred during nationwide raids against a Mexico-based drug cartel. Eimiller said the LA raids are not related.

First Published: Oct 22, 2009 7:09 AM PST

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{"totSize":36,"payload_type":"json","status":"1","results":[{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"390259_65523132","adminTags":null,"views":1595,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Officers Swarm South LA in Gang Crackdown","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2530405,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"22 Oct 2009 15:21:21 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1112723","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Hell yes. I hope they keep this up. They've really been cracking down and it's about time."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"390259_65523132","adminTags":null,"views":1595,"createdBy":13061690,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Officers Swarm South LA in Gang Crackdown","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2530405,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"22 Oct 2009 16:13:09 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"ADM454","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1113218","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"I know the liberals like to see the proliferation of gangs throughout the United States. It creates a sense of unease and paranoia that weakens us and makes us more susceptible to ultimate control. This "gang crackdown" may make good news, but for every member arrested, there are dozens waiting to take their place. They have been allowed to grow for far too long. And every one of them is packing an illegal weapon, some modified into fully automatic, that would land the rest of us in jail for ten years and a 250K fine."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"390259_65523132","adminTags":null,"views":1595,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Officers Swarm South LA in Gang Crackdown","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2530405,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"22 Oct 2009 16:16:08 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1113253","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"This again demonstrates that in passing laws affecting the entire U.S. population, the legislators are denying the reality of the clustering of criminal gang activity among minority groups. So instead of finding a way to control guns available to ghetto residents, who seem to have a proclivity to use them for unsavory actitivy, the entire U.S. population is subjected to sanctions that should be directed to control the impermissible behavior of racial and ethnic groups. <br><br>Why are we engaged in this game of "Let's pretend." Let's deal with the problem and stop providing "solutions" that ignore the problem, which is the condcut of minorities."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"390259_65523132","adminTags":null,"views":1595,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Officers Swarm South LA in Gang Crackdown","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2530405,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"22 Oct 2009 16:17:26 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1113265","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"I think this is wonderful. My solution for the gang problem is to round them all up, put them all in the LA Coliseum, and let them kill each other. The last one standing would be charged with all of the murders That would ease overcrowding in the prisons, and there would be very few gang members left to terrorize neighborhoods. "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"390259_65523132","adminTags":null,"views":1595,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Officers Swarm South LA in Gang Crackdown","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2530405,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"22 Oct 2009 16:34:41 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1113445","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Don't get excited, this is just for show. Don't forget about the overcrowding and the planned early releases for those locked up. The early releases will just pick up where the new arrestees left off. Wake Up!"}],"error":"","totPages":8}