MOORPARK : Panel to Study New Gang Activity

Moorpark officials will join with school board members, law enforcement leaders and community activists to review an increase in street gang activity, predominantly in the city’s downtown area.

The committee will study information collected by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and report back to the City Council on possible action. Council members have said they are interested in studying alternative activities for the area’s youths.

The Sheriff’s Department believes that the Moorpark Locals, the city’s primary street gang, have about 100 associates, with about 20 identified as hard-core members.

In 1990, Moorpark deputies wrote about 85 gang-related reports and arrested about 40 members for crimes ranging from vandalism to strong-armed robbery and narcotics possession, according to a report to the city from Lt. Richard Rodriguez of the Sheriff’s Department.

Four shooting incidents in Ventura and Los Angeles counties involved local teen-agers this year, he said.

Also during 1990, the gang interacted with other gangs, including the Party Boyz of Santa Paula, considered the most violent street gang in the county, Rodriguez reported.

The committee will include representatives from the Moorpark Boys and Girls Club and the Chamber of Commerce and may seek input from city residents not affiliated with area organizations.