Catalina Island: Gone Gangster?

Cops fear Calif. isle is turning gangster paradise

AVALON, Calif. (AP) — It seems even 22 miles of open ocean might not be keeping gangs off Catalina Island, a mist-shrouded outpost of Los Angeles County best known for its Hollywood history and crystal-clear harbors.

Deputies on the isle say a fledgling gang called the Brown Pride Locos has gotten a foothold among the beaches, coves and tourist shops. A stabbing, burglaries and graffiti are being blamed on the gang, and deputies last month surprised teenagers practicing moves with knives on a dark bluff above Avalon’s crescent-shaped bay.

A swift crackdown has netted at least six arrests and led to a pair of police raids – but it has also caused an uproar in the tiny community, where residents leave their doors unlocked and putt around in golf carts.

Locals insist that LA’s corrupting influences could never penetrate their paradise, where the stars of Hollywood’s golden age frolicked and where dozens of classics, such as “Mutiny on the Bounty” and parts of “Jaws,” were filmed.

Deputy David Mertens, a six-year gang enforcement veteran from Los Angeles, is trying to gain the upper hand before the violence escalates.

“Before I transferred here, I came to do my interview and I was shocked,” said Mertens, who was brought in with a new commander late last year. “I could not believe all these gangsters walking around and all these drug deals going on right in the open.”

Mayor Bob Kennedy, a scuba shop owner who never locks his truck and doesn’t have a house key, acknowledges that some teens on the island heckle tourists, smoke marijuana and do some tagging. But he worries that overzealous policing – and the gang label – could empty the daily ferries that bring as many as 15,000 visitors to the island on summer weekends.

Catalina is accessible only by private plane or boat. A strict limit on cars means most residents cruise Avalon’s 2 square miles by foot, bike or golf cart.

“I know that we have some misguided youth that think it’s cute to spray paint skateboard signs in the skateboard park and do a little vandalism in the bathrooms,” said Kennedy, a 26-year Avalon resident. “Do we want to get after that? Absolutely. Do we need 30 officers in flak jackets and machines guns to do that? I don’t think so.”

Others feel that deputies are profiling Hispanic teens who are the children of the maids, cooks and waiters who fuel the island’s tourist industry.

“I’ve been here 19 years and there are no gangs here. It’s ridiculous,” said 26-year-old Evelyn Cano. “They see shaved heads and tattoos, and that’s a gang to them.”

But deputies insist there’s a problem on Catalina, although they aren’t sure exactly how it started. There are groups by the same – or similar – names in San Pedro and Long Beach, where ferries depart daily for Catalina. Mertens believes the group has quietly expanded to about 50 members since 2004.

Tensions flared when deputies launched a pair of raids in the past few weeks.

A SWAT team from Los Angeles helped deputies in a search for drugs and gang evidence at the house of an alleged Brown Pride Locos leader. No one was arrested.

On July 2, nearly four dozen mainland deputies came ashore in four boats and two helicopters and hauled away six suspected gang members for alleged probation violations. The youngest was 15.

Lt. Ed Cook said his staff has spotted suspected members of the Florencia 13 gang – a South Los Angeles gang with ties to the Mexican Mafia – with local teens. And deputies are hearing rumors that Brown Pride Locos are feuding internally and may split.

If you have never been to Catalina, you have missed the opportunity. The key to the story is this little line here:

“Others feel that deputies are profiling Hispanic teens who are the children of the maids, cooks and waiters who fuel the island’s tourist industry

That sums it up, oh and don’t forget the picture:
It’s not my kid… Of course not, oh and “shaved head and tattoo’s are a gang to them”

Look, Catalina is a laid back area, it’s a beautiful tourist area and it is AWAY from the urban mess the HISPANIC, BLACK and WHITE gangs enjoy. IF there are signs that GANGS are all of the sudden showing up on the island, and they are going by the name “Brown Pride Locos” I think we can rule out WHITE and BLACK gangs….So with that little piece of detective work complete, lets move on to WHERE they come from, there are 3 ways to the island; Boat, Fly or Swim. That’s it, so if GANGS are calling Catalina home, THEY must live there.. So then we need to look at 12 to 20 year olds that exhibit the “gangster” personality… yep profiling.. shaved heads, tattoo’s that might say something like “Brown Pride Loco’s” Well; I think sitting here in my comfortable chair I have done most of the detective work for the Gang Unit… Your welcome guys.

I guess the real thing that needs to be said, is why is this news? the so-called gang should be removed post haste, as well as their parents. Removal from the island is really easy, you quit paying the parents to work for you, Jobs on Catalina are SCARCE! if you suspect one of your employee’s might have a kid that’s in the BPL’s then you might need to find a reason to get rid of them for the better of the ISLAND. Or give them the option to actually do some PARENTING!

The kids spray painting signs, and minor vandalism, those are mostly your white rich kids, the stabbings the robbery and B&E’s are going to be your “future prison inmates”and that stuff happening on Catalina is cause for concern. Nip it in the bud quick Catalina, because if you get this kind of publicity, you can count on a lot of lost revenue.