SIMI VALLEY : Meeting to Address Gang Activity

The city of Simi Valley will hold a town meeting Wednesday on the community’s growing gang activity, officials said.

The purpose of the meeting is for residents to learn more about gang activity in Simi Valley and to offer their suggestions on how to curtail it, Wright said.

The meeting is being sponsored by a 12-member citizen gang task force committee, which was appointed by the City Council in December. The committee includes residents, school board members, law enforcement officers and city and county officials.

Last year, gang related incidents such as tire-slashings, vehicle break-ins and graffiti rose by 52%, according to police records.

However, police officials said that the problem is still manageable. The more than 100 gang members in Simi Valley are generally not violent and do not deal in narcotics as their Los Angeles counterparts do, police said.

Wright said that by sharing information about gangs with the community through public meetings, police hope to head off gang activity before it becomes a more serious problem.

He said the gang task force will incorporate public testimony into a plan or set of recommendations that it will present to the City Council in May.

Wednesday’s meeting will be held at Berylwood Elementary School, 2300 Heywood St., at 7 p.m., said Police Capt. Dick Wright.