A new San Fernando Valley task force has been assembled to stop “knock-knock burglars” believed to be targeting celebrities and others in affluent neighborhoods, a Los Angeles police lieutenant said Thursday.

The San Fernando Valley Knock Knock Burglary Task Force will target criminal street gang members who prey on residents living in high-end communities such as Studio City, Woodland Hills, Encino, Tarzana, Sherman Oaks, Chatsworth and Porter Ranch, said Lt. Todd Hankel, commanding officer of LAPD’s West Valley Area detectives.

The announcement of the task force comes amid a rash of high profile break-ins, including at the Tarzana home of Los Angeles Lakers star Nick Young and the Sherman Oaks residence of Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig.

While it’s unclear if the crimes are related, police say these burglars operating in certain neighborhoods target specific types of homes.

“They look for single-family residences that they believe are carrying money, jewelry and firearms,” said Hankel, who oversees the task force. “I think they’re targeting people that have affluence, that have notoriety.”

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The burglars, who are mostly criminal gang members from South Los Angeles, meet up at a location and organize themselves into groups of three or four before striking neighborhoods daily in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura or Santa Barbara counties, according to the LAPD. One person knocks on the door of a home and if no one answers, they will signal to the others, who will try to make entry from the side or rear of the entrance, he said.

They will then scour the home for valuable items, even taking a safe out of a home “if it’s not attached,” Hankel said.

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Police started noticing crooks were using the knock-knock method in 2001. But now that “they’re hitting people that have celebrity status, it’s getting a little (more) attention,” Hankel explained.

The LAPD announced Thursday that Nick Young’s home was burglarized on Feb. 18 or 19. About $500,000 worth of cash, jewelry and other items were reportedly taken. On Jan. 30, former Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher’s Tarzana home was also burglarized, with more than $300,000 worth of jewelry taken, according to police.

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Hankel could not say whether these particular incidents, which are being investigated by the LAPD’s Commercial Crimes Division, were knock-knock burglaries.

Other recent high-profile victims around Los Angeles include hip-hop star Nicki Minaj, whose Hollywood Hills home was targeted and pop star Alanis Morisette in Brentwood.

“If I’m a celebrity, whether in sports or in the entertainment industry, or anybody that’s high profile, I would be very concerned (about) describing when I’m out of town and doing all these things” on social media and elsewhere, Hankel said.

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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Thursday, he and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck don’t think the celebrity burglary cases are related.

“Beck and the police department are committed to solving these cases,” Garcetti said during a news conference at City Hall on an unrelated matter. “We’ve seen pockets that have happened on the Westside a while back, and we were able to break up one ring, but we don’t think that these ones are a single ring or any connection.”

• RELATED STORY: Burglars hit Tarzana home of former Laker Derek Fisher, steal more than $300K in jewelry

The San Fernando Valley Knock Knock Task Force, which can have about 30 people working in a day, is culling staff from the department’s North Hollywood, Van Nuys, West Valley, Topanga and Devonshire divisions. It includes surveillance teams, undercover detectives and patrol cars working to prevent and curb such incidents. However, police say the task force could be temporary,

Four people suspected of committing a knock-knock burglary in Chatsworth were arrested last month, including a juvenile, Hankel said, adding that he would release further details at a later date.

Hankel offered suggestions on how to deter thieves, such as using video cameras, motion sensors, alarm systems and the like. These criminals tend to be nonconfrontational when they’re confronted by a homeowner and “usually flee,” he said.

Interestingly, knock-knock rings can involve members of different gangs working together.

“Gangs are usually territorial,” Hankel said. “For this issue, they’ll cross territories to group up to have enough people to go and commit these burglaries.”

They even have a common fund that they use for bail money, he said, adding, “It shows you how organized it is.”

Staff Writer Elizabeth Chou and City News Service contributed to this report.