Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton has appointed a "Gang Czar" to help in that city's fight against gang crime. We wrote about Bratton's announcement he would seek federal aid in the fight yesterday.

The new czar is Michael Hillman, "a former SWAT supervisor and member of the anti-terrorism squad."

At his swearing in Wednesday, Hillman "served notice that while the latest anti-gang effort would not throw the Bill of Rights out of the window, it would also undoubtedly lead to an increased number of "field contacts" in which patrol officers stop citizens on the street to be questioned and sometimes frisked."

"Make no mistake about it, for us to be able to do this, we are going to need the community's support," Hillman told television station KCAL in an interview earlier Wednesday."

"We are also going to need support for the fact that police officers are going to be able to stop people based on reasonable suspicion and probable cause."

"Bratton said Wednesday that he and Hillman were on the same page in term of strategies to combat gangs and that "he understands my goal of gaining the respect of the community."

Los Angeles has the highest murder rate in the country. Officials believe the city's 100,000 gang-bangers heavily contribute to it.

Bratton's plan is to involve the feds by charging the gang members with federal crimes like racketeering and tax evasion. He said the strategy worked in fighting the mob in NY and it should also work in LA.

One criminologist is not so sure. "Criminologist Howard Abadinsky told the Los Angeles Times that the New York mob investigations were run by the FBI and took years of patient surveillance to put together. In addition, he said, Los Angeles gangs are far larger than the Mafia."

"You need to stop recruitment," he said. "The problem you've got in L.A. is you have an unlimited supply of applicants."

We think Mr. Abadinsky has a point. One way to stop recruitment is to offer options to the at-risk youth of South Central --through programs that offer a way out of that hellhole.

Hopefully, not all of LA's money will be spent on enforcement and some will go towards prevention. Knowing Bratton, he's thought of this long before we have.