Authorities in San Bernardino and Highland arrested 33 known gang members this month in an attempt to halt growing violence in those communities.

Those arrested are members of the Crips and Bloods, whose intense rivalry turned even more violent in March, according to a news release from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

The arrests were made Dec. 5 after months of investigations, according to the statement.

Of those arrested, three are suspected of murder and others of attempted murder, robbery and carjackings, according to the release.


“This effort was absolutely necessary,” Sheriff John McMahon said in the statement. “Gang violence and violent crimes don’t have jurisdictional boundaries, so law enforcement must work together to rid the streets of these gang members.”

The task force included the sheriff’s department, the San Bernardino Police Department, California Highway Patrol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“The days of a criminal street gang being neighborhood-specific is long gone and that issue underscores the need for all of us in local law enforcement to communicate with one another and to collaborate with one another better and more effectively than we have ever done so in the past,” San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said in the release.

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