Department adds personnel to detail as crime rises rapidly.
By Irene McCormack Jackson, San Diego Union-Tribune
Violent gang-related crime has risen sharply over the past two months in much of San Diego, prompting police to bolster their gang detail by about a third.
At least five people have been killed in gang-related attacks since late July and at least 16 people have been killed in gang-related attacks since the start of the year. On Monday night, two girls, 14 and 10, were hospitalized after at least one suspected gang member sprayed their Linda Vista house with gunfire.
With nearly 5,000 documented gang members and more than 80 gangs in the city, gunfire in some neighborhoods has become an almost daily occurrence.
The Police Department has responded by moving more officers into its gang detail over the past several weeks, including six officers who were shifted from the narcotics unit this week, bringing the detail’s staffing to 24 officers and 29 detectives.
More shifts may follow, police Chief William Lansdowne said.
“The situation is alarming, and we need to address it quickly and immediately, and we’re mobilizing our resources to attack it,” he said.
In addition to the beefed-up gang unit, Lansdowne is directing officers in the traffic and special operations units to focus some of their efforts in areas with active gangs.
On paper, the problem does not appear to be dire. In fact, the number of crimes committed by gang members has fallen about 17 percent this year compared with last year, according to the Police Department’s Crime Analysis Unit.
But not all gang crimes are reported to police. And a sharp spike in shootings and other assaults in August and September has officers concerned and residents on edge.
If the trend continues, 2003 could be worse, statistically, than last year.
Police say 16 homicides this year are attributed to gangs. There were 17 in all of last year.
Although the number of reported assaults through August attributed to gangs has fallen slightly, from 137 last year to 125, there were 18 reported assaults (an annual rate of 216) in September. Included in the attacks are four drive-by shootings.
The number of auto thefts attributed to gang members has risen more than 33 percent through August, from 39 to 52.
The violence has cut across racial lines and is spread throughout the city. Police say gangs are concentrated in Mira Mesa, San Ysidro and southeastern San Diego neighborhoods, but gang members often drive to other parts of the city and commit crimes there. Mission Bay Park, the scene of a Father’s Day homicide, is one case in point.
Lansdowne says one factor fueling the spike is the sluggish economy.
“There’s a lot of people out of work,” he said.
Prosecutor Richard Monroy, who heads the Prosecution Unit in the District Attorney’s Office, said other factors include more gang members trafficking narcotics for cartels, which are traditionally violent, and increasingly violent bands of graffiti taggers.
“These rising tag-banger sets are becoming more violent; they are responsible for some of the South Bay increase in violent crime,” Monroy said. “Their willingness to become violent accounts for a lot of it.”
Detailing the causes of that violence is something Michael Brunker and the community-based Black Men United are looking at. In response to the New Year’s Day shooting deaths of two women caught in a gang crossfire as they were returning from church, the group of several hundred has met most Saturdays to discuss strategies.
Gang violence “is so rampant right now that you wonder where to begin” in looking for causes, said Brunker, who runs the Jackie Robinson YMCA.
Brunker said residents in his community realize that “law enforcement can’t solve it all. They are not the end-all solution to this thing.”
Probation and parole officers, social service agencies, police, church leaders and parents must also work to fight the problem, he said.
The District Attorney’s Office, which estimates that there are 10,000 gang members countywide, has also joined the prevention effort, recently organizing the San Diego Gang Intervention and Prevention Project.
Community involvement is essential, said Capt. Glenn Breitenstein, who oversees the San Diego Police Department’s gang and narcotics units.
“From a police standpoint, we go out every chance we get and try to spread the message . . . about not getting involved in gangs,” he said.
Officials say a prominent police presence is crucial to preventing violence once gangs form. Gangs typically are involved in drug trafficking, prostitution, vehicle thefts, robberies and beatings.
Law enforcement officers often determine - “document” - whether someone is a gang member by asking them. Other methods include checking their criminal history, documenting their associations or detailing their tattoos. Once documented, a gang member can be slapped with an enhanced sentence if convicted of a felony.
Understanding the intricacies of what is happening on the streets is vital for gang investigators.
Members of the gang detail know most gang members and their families. They also know about gang rivalries and are adept at reading gang graffiti, which some liken to a crude newsletter of the street.
“Without the intelligence, you are going to shrivel up and die,” prosecutor Monroy said.
Meanwhile, the violence is testing the department, which has 2,000 officers.
“I’m from Detroit and there were 3,400 officers there,” Brunker said. “The police are really stretched.”