500 officers raid 50 homes, arrest 25 in East Valley gang sweep

Police arrested twenty-five people on Thursday as part of a gang sweep in the east Coachella Valley.

The raids, involving 500 members of law enforcement, were the culmination of a two-year investigation into Coachella gangs, reports The Desert Sun.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin announced a civil gang injunction that bars named gang members from operating in the area.

“I want to make this point very clear,” Hestrin said. “Any gang member who doesn’t want to be subject to this civil injunction has two choices: they can leave the gang or they can leave the area. It’s as simple as that.”