photography by LA Daily News Photographer Hans Gutknecht

Staff Sgt. David Solorio gets a hug from his aunt Olga Alverez after a luncheon to honor reserve soldiers returning from service in Kuwait. Reservists from the US Army 420th Movement Control Battalion were honored during a welcome home lunch at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys CA. (Hans Gutknecht/LA Daily News)

LAPD GED Officers knock on the door of a suspect on Vanowen St. in North Hollywood. Los Angeles Police Gang Enforcement Detail officers from all over the San Fernando Valley along with ICE Agents, Probation, Department of Children and Family Services and K-9 officers conducted a Gang Task Force in the North Hollywood area. Officers conducted parole and probation compliance checks and crime suppression looking for wanted gang suspects. Several suspects were taken in to custody and weapons and drugs were recovered from some of the locations. The Task Force is conducted on a monthly basis throughout the San Fernando Valley in hopes of reducing gang crime. (Hans Gutknecht/LA Daily News)