Posted at 10:26 PM on Saturday, Jul. 17, 2010
By Brad Branan / The Fresno Bee
Most people arrested during the Fresno Police Department's well-publicized gang sweeps never set foot in the county jail, records collected by The Bee suggest.
About 75% of those snagged in a two-week stretch of the most recent gang sweep were cited by officers and let go after promising to show up in court.
This is by design, Chief Jerry Dyer said. The sweeps conducted by teams of officers are supposed to rattle the cages of gang members and reduce spikes in criminal activity, particularly shootings, he said.
* Merging of Fresno city, county services no easy task
Painful layoffs might have been avoided in recent months if city and county of Fresno officials had not dragged their feet on combining law-enforcement services to save money, say backers of government consolidation.
The Public Safety Service Joint Powers Authority -- a nine-member board created in 2007 to help the city and county save money by merging duplicate services -- has been plagued by canceled meetings, funding disputes and questions over direction, records and interviews show.
The city and the county easily could save $600,000 to $1 million a year by merging nine services, such as records management and investigations, according to a 2006 report commissioned by the Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce. So far, the two have begun to consolidate just one law-enforcement function -- prisoner processing.
* Fresno police adopt new gang policy
Fighting gang activity and violent crimes in Fresno is now a stepped-up, year-round effort for the Fresno Police Department, Chief Jerry Dyer said Wednesday.
The newly created Violent Crime Bureau is the department's latest strategy for battling gangs and replaces periodic anti-gang operations, Dyer said at a news conference in front of the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in downtown Fresno.
The Violent Crime Bureau brings together police teams that target gangs, street violence and drug activity under one command.
* Fresno police to ramp up anti-gang efforts
Fighting gang activity and violent crimes in Fresno is now a stepped-up, year-round effort for the Fresno Police Department, Chief Jerry Dyer said Wednesday.
The newly created Violent Crime Bureau is the department's latest strategy for battling gangs and replaces periodic anti-gang operations, Dyer said at a news conference in front of the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in downtown Fresno.
The Violent Crime Bureau brings together police teams that target gangs, street violence and drug activity under one command.
A new report highlights a contradiction in local efforts to stop gang violence: Despite years of gang sweeps and other high-profile crackdowns, gang activity shows no sign of waning.
An estimated 17,000 Fresno County residents are gang members, according to the report from local law enforcement and social service officials. They commit thousands of crimes each year and are involved in one-third of all homicides.
The task force concluded in the report released last week that Fresno County's approach to the problem has been incomplete and recommends greater emphasis on prevention and intervention.
The report -- which includes a five-year plan for reducing gang violence -- is Fresno County's response to a 2006 grand jury report that called gang violence an epidemic and said prevention programs were woefully underfunded. The grand jury asked county officials to seek a more comprehensive approach to the problem.
But after three years of cuts to social service programs, the situation has grown far worse, said Supervisor Henry Perea. Yet the county gang report makes no recommendation for new funding, which he said was a critical failing.
County administrator John Navarrette, whose office coordinated the report, said the county has no money for new programs.
The county recently cut millions of dollars in spending in its current-year budget, and expects even more cuts when the state approves its budget this year.
However, even if funds are absent, the gang study will lead to better coordination of existing resources, and money can be added to programs later when it's available, Navarrette said.
The poor economy creates another challenge in curbing gang activity -- finding jobs for gang members with criminal records, limited education and little employment history.
"There needs to be more opportunities for these guys," said Ernie Flores, who decided to quit the Bulldog gang because of the violence he saw in prison.
Flores, 37, often speaks to young people about the dangers of gang life. But he hasn't been able to find employment since losing a construction job last fall. Faith and a desire to help wayward youths keep him straight, he said.
A bad economy is just one of many obstacles that impede efforts to reduce gang activity, said Debra McKenzie, the county's gang task force coordinator.
"That's why we titled the report, 'Never Give Up!' It's going to be a long and hard battle," she said.
Funded in part with a $150,000 grant by the California Endowment, the task force report was three years in the making. Led by McKenzie, the group included almost 30 members of the District Attorney's Office, the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium, county Social Services and other agencies.
The California Endowment, a private organization that provides financial assistance to health and well-being programs, funded the report because it saw the need for more gang prevention in Fresno County, said Sarah Reyes, the organization's Central Valley program manager.
"We're hoping the study will inform county leaders about gangs, and they will continue to focus on prevention," said Reyes, a former state Assembly member from Fresno.
Prevention is a more cost-efficient use of tax dollars than suppression, she said, echoing a point raised in the 2006 grand jury report.
A Fresno church paid $5,000 to put a gang member through its job-training program, Hope Now for Youth, the grand jury said. By contrast, incarcerating a gang member cost $50,000 that year.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer has been a strong advocate for gang sweeps and other suppression efforts. But law enforcement alone can't conquer the gangs, he concedes.
The department's Police Activities League has supported recreational activities designed to steer young people away from gangs, he said.
More recently, the department started Operation Cease Fire, an intervention program that also receives funds from the California Endowment.
Cease Fire brings together certified gang members and their families to a forum where law enforcement leaders essentially read them the riot act. Dyer, federal and local prosecutors and other officials tell gang members that they have been identified as law-breakers and already could have been sent to prison.
Or, an official from the Mayor's Gang Prevention Initiative talks to them about services that can help them become productive and law-abiding citizens, Dyer said.
Many factors make gangs prevalent in Fresno County, including poverty and a lack of education, the task force report says.
A survey of about 800 middle school students, completed for the report, revealed more specific reasons. The best predictors of gang activity are a lack of self-control, having a father in a gang and living in a neighborhood with a lot of disorder, the survey found.
Despite a common perception that gangs primarily exist in south Fresno, the problem is spread throughout the county. Maps in the report show gang activity in nearly every section of every city, from the Norte Brown Pride in the northwest part of the county, to the Pinedale Bulldogs in north Fresno, to the Sanger Boys in the eastern part of the county.
Focus groups conducted by the task force showed that residents often think gangs don't touch their lives. That perception could make it difficult to mobilize support for gang prevention efforts, task force coordinator McKenzie said.
At a time of shrinking government resources, volunteers are needed to help stop gangs, said Diane Carbray, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County. Residents can serve as mentors for young people who are at risk of joining gangs or are already in a gang.
"Gang prevention starts at the grass-roots level," she said.
Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/17/2010134_p2/gang-membership-withstands-fresno.html#ixzz0uoDL0KXD
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