The San Mateo County Sheriff's Department said it will work with local police agencies to combat crime in the area, NBC Bay Area reported. A recent spike in gang activity in county neighborhoods has encouraged law officials to coordinate their crime fighting efforts through the creation of the violence reduction strategy called "Operation SMART," or the Strategic Multi-Agency Response Team.

San Mateo officials will work with police departments outside the county as well, including those in Santa Clara County, where the city of East Palo Alto is home to the "DaVill" gang that is clashing with the "Taliban" gang from Menlo Park. The area has seen 10 gang-related shootings in recent months, the Palo Alto Daily News reported.

A shooting involving two vehicles in San Mateo County on November 28 that sent one victim to a hospital is suspected of being related to local gang violence, the San Mateo County Times reported. More than a dozen shootings and several deaths in the last six months have been tied to gangs, according to police.

The county sheriff's department also has its own Gang Task Force, which aims to curb violent crime and keep people out of the San Mateo jails.