MoCo DA gang unit will go on despite loss of task force

Officials with the Monterey County District Attorney’s gang unit said they will continue their work, even after the Monterey County Gang Task Force is shut down on July 1. Instead of getting cases directly from the task force, they will likely come from police departments individually.

The team will continue to review and prosecute gang cases, just like they have before. But District Attorney Dean Flippo said the task force had a big impact on stopping gang activity in the area.

“When they were rolling and they we’re going to South County or going to the peninsula, um, the word was out. And you know gang members they, when they knew they were coming…boom…and it would really quiet things down,” Flippo said.

The District Attorney’s team consists of a supervising deputy district attorney, four prosecutors and a couple of investigators dedicated only to gang cases.