Staff Writer

ONEONTA — Among the 12 people arrested Thursday in early morning drug raids were several associated with the Bloods, an infamous national street gang, police said.

"The core (of the group arrested) were full-fledged members of the Bloods," Oneonta Police Chief John Donadio said during a Thursday afternoon news conference about the arrests. "Others were associated with or conspired to assist them."

Donadio did not specify the names of the core group members.

According to the National Alliance of Gang Investigators website, the Bloods began in Los Angeles in the 1970s to protect its members from the Crips, the dominant L.A. gang at the time.

The Bloods started to branch out nationwide in the mid-1980s, and by 2000, the site said, "they were the most violent group on the East Coast."

"With the arrests made today," Donadio said, "there will be a serious dent in the drug trade and the gang leadership in the city."

Donadio said the Bloods were the only gang operating in the city.

Some arrested during the raids are suspected of being involved with other crimes in the area, including home break-ins and attempted murder.

Among those arrested Thursday were Stacey B. Hill and Vernon R. Brockington, who were also arrested March 31 for second-degree attempted murder. Charges were dropped after the alleged stabbing victim refused to identify his assailants.

Donadio said the state police, who were among the agencies working on the case, have sent a Community Stabilization Team at his request to the city to help patrol it in the aftermath of the arrests. They will be in Oneonta for about three weeks, police said.

Working with local police, Donadio said, the team will "take back the streets from drug dealers and gang members."

In addition, he said, the police are counting on continued cooperation from city residents who are willing to report problems they see in the community.

The arrests sent a three-fold message to gang members, said Oneonta Mayor Kim Muller, who attended the news conference. "We do not want you, we will not tolerate you, and we will use all of our resources to get you out and keep you out."

Donadio said Muller has helped approve overtime expenditures and other expenses to support the operation during the nearly two years of the investigation.

"We love our city," she said. "We will fight hard and use all available resources to keep our city a safe place."