AVALON, Calif. (AP) – It seems even 22 miles of open ocean might not be keeping gangs off Catalina Island, a mist-shrouded outpost of Los Angeles County best known for its Hollywood history and crystal-clear harbors.

Deputies on the isle say a fledgling gang called the Brown Pride Locos has gotten a foothold among the beaches, coves and tourist shops. A stabbing, burglaries and graffiti are being blamed on the gang, and deputies last month surprised teenagers practicing moves with knives on a dark bluff above Avalon’s crescent-shaped bay.

A swift crackdown has netted at least six arrests and led to a pair of police raids but it has also caused an uproar in the tiny community, where residents leave their doors unlocked and putt around in golf carts.

Locals insist that LA’s corrupting influences could never penetrate their paradise, where the stars of Hollywood’s golden age frolicked and where dozens of classics, such as “Mutiny on the Bounty” and parts of “Jaws,” were filmed.

Deputy David Mertens, a six-year gang enforcement veteran from Los Angeles, is trying to gain the upper hand before the violence escalates.

“Before I transferred here, I came to do my interview and I was shocked,” said Mertens, who was brought in with a new commander late last year. “I could not believe all these gangsters walking around and all these drug deals going on right in the open.”

Catalina is accessible only by private plane or boat. A strict limit on cars means most residents cruise Avalon’s 2 square miles by foot, bike or golf cart.

“I know that we have some misguided youth that think it’s cute to spray paint skateboard signs in the skateboard park and do a little vandalism in the bathrooms,” said Mayor Bob Kennedy, a 26-year Avalon resident. “Do we want to get after that? Absolutely. Do we need 30 officers in flak jackets and machines guns to do that? I don’t think so.”

But deputies insist there’s a problem on Catalina, although they aren’t sure exactly how it started. There are groups by the same or similar names in San Pedro and Long Beach, where ferries depart daily for Catalina. Mertens believes the group has quietly expanded to about 50 members since 2004.

On July 2, nearly four dozen mainland deputies came ashore in four boats and two helicopters and hauled away six suspected gang members for alleged probation violations. The youngest was 15.

“Nobody wants to think that ‘Yeah, I live in a place where there’s gangs,’ especially in a place like this,” he said as he patrolled a cliffside neighborhood overlooking yachts bobbing in the cove below. “It’s a beautiful town.”