Confront L.A.’s monsters head-on

ENOUGH ALREADY.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I read The Times’ headline “Compton to Crack Down on Gangs, Officials Tell Forum.” How many times have we done this? How many marches have we held? How many peace protests, prayer vigils, town hall meetings, crackdowns, injunctions, mayor and police chief declarations, news conferences and funerals have we attended over the years from the Valley to South Los Angeles to Long Beach? When will we get the message?

The thugs aren’t listening. They don’t care. They’ve got other things to do.

Along with the article was a photo that saddened me even more. A standing-room-only crowd of city officials, community activists and religious leaders had gathered for what seemed like the hundredth time, in this case to discuss the recent shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Buchanan, the third slaying in Compton in a week and the 43rd there this year. What an utter waste of time.

“We are putting criminals and gang members on notice,” boasted Mayor Eric J. Perrodin.

Since when?

“Crime is not accepted in Compton,” he proclaimed.

Since when?

“It’s time to pack your bags!” he taunted the hoodlums, none of whom appeared to be in the room at the moment. Buying weapons, dealing drugs and cruising for new sons and daughters to kill is a full-time job these days. The ones who should be packing their bags are officials like Perrodin and those on that panel.

When are we going to get it?

Our cities, whether it’s Compton or Los Angeles or Pacoima, are suffering from healing fatigue. Preaching to the choir won’t solve anything, hasn’t solved anything, will never solve anything. It’s time we preached to the hoodlums themselves. For years we’ve marched, held hands and chanted, “No more violence!”

Who were we talking to? The thugs aren’t listening. They don’t care. They’ve got other things to do.

Just once, like maybe the next time a stray bullet snuffs out another infant, instead of holding the news conference at the obligatory crime site, I’d like to see the victim’s family, the mayor and the police chief make their statements where the killers can see and hear them.

Set up the microphones and TV crews in front of the Mar Vista Gardens housing project in Los Angeles or the Oakwood area in Venice or the Van Nuys Recreation Center or MacArthur Park or anywhere else where drug dealers and gang members congregate.

Let’s not hold any more prayer vigils where the victims fall. Instead, do them in front of the monsters’ houses. At every funeral, round up a dozen local terrorists and make them watch. Put a few of them on that forum panel. It’s time they felt shame. It’s time they heard our wails, our rage, our prayers.

“Oh, we can’t do that. It’s too crude.” Fine. Then keep on keeping on and pick a straw for whose son or daughter or baby will be next.

We can either talk endlessly about gangsters or we can bring the talk to them. It’s clear we’ve gotten nowhere by talking among ourselves.