Taking aim at possible culprits in San Pedro's recent rise in burglaries, police on Friday targeted teenagers wandering the community's streets instead of attending school.

LAPD Harbor Division officers arrest 3 San Pedro High School students for truancy Friday morning. They were brought to the station to wait for a parent to pick them up. Officer Joe Buscaino talks to the kids. (Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer)

Thirty-seven teens found themselves in handcuffs, arrested during a six-hour truancy operation by a special task force.

"When they are not in school, they are up to no good," Harbor Division Senior Lead Officer Joe Buscaino said.

The truancy sweep rounded up 20 boys and 17 girls from San Pedro High School and Dana Middle School. Eighty percent were repeat truancy offenders, and most were on probation for minor offenses, Buscaino said.

One boy's probation officer was scheduled to meet with officers because the teen "might tie in with the burglaries," Buscaino said.

Los Angeles police stepped up patrols this week and conducted the truancy sweep following a rise in daytime residential break-ins.

Over the past month, detectives said officers took 20 burglary reports from residents living in an area bounded primarily by Seventh and 25th streets and Pacific Avenue and Leland Street.

Although they made several arrests, including adults, officers suspected teenagers also were involved because of what's been taken: MP3 players, video game systems and laptop computers, the kinds of gadgets teens like.

Buscaino and his partner, Officer Matt Visuoso, were among 12 officers assigned to the special task force Friday to specifically look for teenagers hanging out.

LAPD Harbor division officer with a truant student from San Pedro High School. (Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer)

"Folks are afraid here so we want them to know we are out here and being responsive," Buscaino said.

Buscaino and Visuoso drove through San Pedro's streets, rolling through bumpy alleys and checking carports to find anyone who appeared to belong in school.

A 17-year-old boy and his 18-year-old girlfriend were stopped about 10:30 a.m. as they walked toward San Pedro High School.

"I woke up really late today," the boy admitted after he was handcuffed and placed in the back of the officers' police car.

His 18-year-old girlfriend also belonged in school, but she was released because of her age. She scurried away as her boyfriend was taken to the police station.

"She actually went into my house and woke me up," the teen said.

The boy said he'd been arrested twice before. His last penalty earned him 16 hours of community service, picking up garbage at Peck Park. His next penalty could be greater.

The boy said he wanted to work in the music field one day, but said he was earning an F grade in his morning music class, the course he was missing when he was arrested.

He was earning D's in a couple of other classes, and a B in English.

"I know I need school in order to get paid good," he said.

Three 15-year-old friends told Buscaino they were on their way to school when officers found them about 10 a.m. They told him they had slept in.

"Three of them all woke up late today at one location," Buscaino said.

Unlike in some truancy sweeps where officers took students to school, this one took them straight to the police station.

Each was handcuffed, searched and placed in a room where officers wrote their tickets and called their parents.

"I have all three of your daughters here at the police station," police Sgt. Julie McInnis told one mother on the phone. "They were truant from school."

One teenage boy brought in by an officer carried a notebook with a pencil holder that contained markers that could be used for tagging.

"What's your story?" McInnis asked him. "Why aren't you in school?"

Another 14-year-old boy sat slumped in a chair. He was stopped by police as he walked away from San Pedro High School.

It turned out he was not truant. He earlier had been suspended and was shown the door Friday when he arrived for school.

McInnis asked a male officer to talk to him because of his flippant attitude.

"This isn't a joke," she said. "He's so far down the road, he doesn't get it."

One mother arrived to pick up her son and niece. Although most of the teens had their handcuffs removed at the police station, the boy remained in his until his mother showed up.

He had not behaved well.

When his mother arrived from work, she looked at the cuffs and whacked him on the arm.

She said she drove him to school every day and was surprised he was truant.

Asked what she was going to do to him, she said, "I don't know yet."

Buscaino said more operations will occur, but police officers on regular patrols look for truant students every day. They normally average about 20 citations.