Some data gleaned from the Altadena Sheriff's Station 2007 year-end report ...
Gang activities are handled by a multi-agency Community Law Enforcement and Recovery (CLEAR) Gang Task Force. CLEAR task force consisted of two detectives each from Altadena Sheriff's Station and Pasadena Police Dept., on LA County probation officer, and an assistant district attorney from LA County. Assisting the tax force are two Crime Impact Team gang detectives from Altadena Station and several detectives from Pasadena's Special Enforcement Section. (Altadena and Pasadena officers work in close concert, because the gangs float between the two jurisdictions).
During 2007, gangs were responsible for 53 aggravated assaults, four shootings at an inhabited dwelling, seven robberies, ten murders, and three carjackings in the Altadena/Pasadena area. (Only one of the murders was in Altadena). Altadena gang detectives made 87 felony and 15 misdemeanor arrests last year, seizing 20 guns and handling 21 narcotics-related cases. The report says, "A zero tolerance was planned on any gang member in the Altadena area. One gang was targeted for comprehensive gang elimination during the latter part of 2007."
The targeted gang is not identified in the report, but the report also mentions a black gang calling itself SOM (for "Sock On Mexicans") whose members target older Hispanics for assaults.
It was also announced that a community meeting will probably take place in late March that is more specifically about gang issues in Altadena.
