SIMI VALLEY : Council OKs Tough Anti-Gang Measures

Simi Valley’s City Council approved a sweeping plan Monday for quelling a resurgence in gang violence that has seen quiet neighborhoods disrupted by vandalism, beatings and drive-by shootings.

“[Zero tolerance] means that we do anything necessary to abate the problems,” said Councilman Paul Miller, a former police chief. “Some people may complain that we’re harassing these [gang suspects], but if that’s what it means, so be it--because it’s the gang members who harass our citizens when they drive around and shoot people and beat people up.”

The council voted 5 to 0 in favor of a multi-pronged plan for stopping gang violence.

It includes beefing up the Police Department’s gang-suppression unit with officers from other divisions and new hires, and working with immigration officers to arrest and deport gang members who are in the United States illegally.

The plan also would strengthen police ties with county probation officers to target specific gang members, and it would explore ways to use curfew and truancy laws to bolster Simi Valley’s zero-tolerance policy.

The council also discussed re-forming an anti-gang task force to study ways of using community groups, churches, schools and recreation programs to work with at-risk youths while police handle confirmed gang members.

The council’s actions Monday drew repeated outbursts of applause from residents of Apricot Road, where police have beefed up patrols after the arrest of nine alleged gang members last week following an earlier outbreak of violence.