The number of political celebrities at today's press conference in Salinas, the crime capital of California, only begins to describe the breathtaking success Operation Knockout delivered today. An operation led by CSLEA- and ASA-DOJ-member Special Agents from the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

"It's official, or it should be, gang violence from criminals foreign and domestic cannot be won without Special Agents from California's own Department of Justice," said Special Agent and CSLEA President Alan Barcelona. "We are the only ones with the knowledge of new technologies and old-fashioned experience, and we are the only ones that local, federal, and other state law enforcement officials trust to successfully coordinate major operations such as Knockout, because we've been doing it for decades."

Salinas, which a news release from Attorney General Jerry Brown called "a hub of murder, robbery, and drug dealing," has for a while been Ground Zero of a turf battle between the Nortenos and Surenos gangs who are believed to be the cause of all but two of the city's 55 murders the past two years.

"Operation Knockout was designed to restore safety to the streets of Salinas," said Brown in his news release. "Citizens in John Steinbeck's hometown deserve better than having to endure a violent crime rate that's three times the national average. We owed it to the people of Salinas to arrest these out-of-control gang members and ensure a heightened sense of personal security throughout the city."

Among those speaking at today's press conference were

• Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Attorney General Jerry Brown
• U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello
• Assemblymember Anna Caballero
• Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo
• Salina Mayor Dennis Donohue
• Salinas Police Chief Louis Fetherolf
• The sheriff and district attorney of Monterey County

The eight-month Operation Knockout included 200 agents from the:

• California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement
• California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
• California Highway Patrol
• Federal Bureau of Investigations
• U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of California
• Monterey County Sheriff's Department
• Monterey County District Attorney's Office
• Salina Police Department

Today's announced arrest of 37 gang members followed the arrest of 57 others earlier. In addition to the arrests, confiscated were:

• 40 pounds of cocaine
• 14 pounds of marijuana
• 9 ounces of methamphetamine
• 12 guns
• $34,000 in cash

Assembly member Anna Caballero, a former Salinas mayor, thanked Brown for allocating resources when her city badly needed it. Later, Brown said "We should be spending more money to control these gangs," and chided the Legislature for cutting $5 million from one of his crime-fighting programs. "Urban terrorists only understand the constitutional use of force."

A perfect alignment of agreement on increased funding for Department of Justice Special Agents might have been the lone unintended message to come out of today's news conference, where Governor Schwarzenegger called "public safety my No. 1 priority. I've said this since I've come into office."

"I'm glad to hear all this," said Barcelona. "But let me remove any lingering mystery. The state cannot control crime without its own agents. This was admitted when the attorney general announced the creation of a new Monterey County Narcotic and Violence Task Force, which will be overseen by BNE Special Agents. Why? Because we run all such task forces up and down the state. Why? Because not only are our agents more widely trained in all aspects of law enforcement, but also local and federal agencies have a time-proven trust in us to lead multi-agency operations. Led by anyone else, these task forces could dissolve into little turf wars. The model for such task forces was the first, the Imperial County Narcotic Task Force, which has been successfully led by BNE Special Agents from California's Department of Justice for almost 40 years."

CSLEA's Legislative and Political Liaison Coby Pizzotti said, "It's good to hear the attorney general say we shouldn't be cutting DOJ's funding but increasing it. Last year we educated legislators on the important public safety roles these men and women serve, and I am glad to see the AG back that up with his statements today."

In addition to the BNE Special Agent who will lead the new Monterey County Narcotic and Violence Task Force, other members will include officers from the:

• California Highway Patrol
• Marina Police Department
• Monterey County Sheriff's Office
• Monterey Police Department
• Salinas Police Department
• Seaside Police Department