Gangs and Crime -- Taking Back Our Streets.

By Hal Netkin

Reduce gang violance and crime by making the Valley City "criminal unfriendly,"

Most undocumented immigrants are hard working and are not criminals, but the 60 percent of gang members who are illegal alien criminals, are not honest, hard-working, immigrants looking for a better life. They are criminals who should be turned over to the INS for deportation.

Many point to a federal court order that invalidated Proposition 187 on the grounds that local police could not lawfully enforce immigration law. But on Oct. 4, 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a landmark decision by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in USA v. Vasquez-Alvarez, confirming that state and local law enforcement officials are free to arrest criminals solely on the basis of their illegally being in the United States.

This ruling finally put to rest any question that local governments have about their authority to join the federal government in the fight against illegal alien criminals

Since 1979, the LAPD has had its hands tied in fighting gang crime by police mandate Special Order 40, which does not allow police officers to question the immigration status of gang members.

Special Order 40 was meant only to limit the police from randomly questioning people as to their immigration status. But questioning the immigration status of identified gang members is not randum.

The LAPD rightfully argues that without Special Order 40, innocent undocumented immigrant witnesses and victims would lose the trust of the LAPD and would not report crimes for fear of being deported.

But determining the immigration status of known gang members has nothing to do with protecting innocent witnesses and victims.

Moreover, as a former Van Nuys block captain, I can tell you that most undocumented immigrants -- the overwhelming majority -- do not step-forward as witnesses, not because they fear the police but because they fear retaliation by gang members. These immigrants favor the deportation of gang members.

I will call for the modification of Special order 40 to allow local law enforcement to turn over identified illegal alien gang members to the INS for deportation -- whether or not they are charged with a crime (similarly, LAPD's city attorney imposes injunctions on identified gang members who have not been charged with any crime).