The California Sheriff's Department struggled for a sixth day Thursday to halt violence in the state's County Jail system, as 200 Latino and black inmates clashed just after officials had guided the media through the Pitchess Detention Center on a tour.

Sheriff Lee Baca said officials were studying videotape of the riots in an attempt to identify the ringleaders and move them into single cells, presumably making it harder for them to instigate fights. Baca again said that the melees, which left dozens of inmates injured and one dead, were started by Latino gang members as apparent revenge for feuds that began on the streets of Los Angeles.

"It will continue until the Latinos have had enough," Baca said.

Jail officials have said that Latino inmates far outnumber black inmates, and that has emboldened some Latino gang members to act. Meanwhile, a group of predominantly black activists, including representatives from the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People , held news conferences in South Los Angeles to condemn the violence. Activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable called upon political leaders, particularly Latino elected officials, to speak out against the jail attacks.

Sheriff's officials acknowledged that they have been overwhelmed by a week's worth of violence that has left at least 28 hospitalized and nearly 90 injured. The worst of the attacks occurred Saturday at Pitchess' North County Correctional Facility. Killed in that attack was a black inmate, Wayne Tiznor, 45, a convicted rapist in jail on a parole violation for failing to register as a sex offender.