Facing a surge in gang violence, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced Tuesday that $1.4 million from a law-enforcement emergency fund will be immediately tapped to combat the war erupting between rival Latino gangs in South King County.

The money will be used to buy equipment for the King County sheriff's gang unit and reopen the sheriff's White Center storefront; pay for three King County deputy prosecutors and a paralegal to build cases against gang members; and fund programs aimed at intervening in the lives of young Latino mothers and at-risk youth.

Programs will roll out over the next six weeks with the one-time funding, said Constantine, flanked by County Council members, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg and King County sheriff's Chief Deputy Steve Strachan.

"We know we can't arrest our way out of this problem," Constantine said, adding that programs such as education and job training represent "investments in proven solutions."

Councilmember Julia Patterson, a lifelong resident of South King County, said gang violence is increasing along the Highway 99 corridor.

Police in a dozen South King County communities, along with sheriff's deputies who patrol unincorporated areas, have been working collaboratively after the July 23 gunfight between rival gang members at a Kent car show that wounded 12 people. Later that night, a thirteenth person was wounded in what police have called a retaliatory shooting.

Patterson noted that one in five Latino residents in South King County lives below the federal poverty line and that teen pregnancy rates are higher than in other parts of the county. For instance, Burien has a teen pregnancy rate of nearly 27 births per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 17, a number that is 16 times greater than in the Issaquah-Sammamish area.

Tyee High School in SeaTac, one of the most diverse in the country, has the highest percentage of Latino students in the county, along with one of the highest dropout rates, she said.

Taken together, Patterson said, poverty and other social problems intensify "the sense of hopelessness" for young people "just trying to get by, craving to be accepted by somebody, anybody."

The "facade of camaraderie" offered by gangs draws young people in, and that cycle needs to be disrupted, she said.

Satterberg said the car-show shooting "was a wake-up call to a lot of people."

"We don't want to be in a position ... where we just pick up shell casings at the next scene," Satterberg said, calling the $1.4 million package "a smart expenditure of our funds" to quickly respond to the "simmering tension" that threatens to erupt in more gang violence.

The Sheriff's Office estimates there are 140 criminal street gangs with more than 10,000 members in King County. Although overall crime has decreased in recent years, gang-related crime has increased 165 percent since 2005.

Satterberg's office has seen an increase in gang-related violence over the past three years. There were a total of 29 gang-related homicides in 2008 and 2009, plus 200 reported gang-related shootings during that same period.

Gangs also are involved in prostitution rings, narcotics trafficking and various property crimes, such as burglaries and car thefts.

Strachan, the sheriff's chief deputy, said the decision to reopen the White Center storefront — which was shuttered last year along with a storefront in Skyway — was in response to community petitions. The Skyway storefront reopened earlier this summer.

"It was a wake-up call to us [for residents to say] that's really important," Strachan said of the White Center community.

Asked whether closing the White Center storefront was a strategic mistake, Constantine said the decision "was a necessity" during the last round of budget cuts. He commended the council for its foresight in creating the $1.5 million Criminal Justice Reserve fund "for emergent needs" like the current gang war.

"We're making the best of what little we have," he said.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com