By Bill Teeter, Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas)
FORT WORTH, Tex. - Gang arrests tripled and related crimes dropped by nearly half last year after police expanded efforts to fight gangs, Police Chief Ralph Mendoza said Tuesday.
The extra police more than offset the rise in gang activity that had followed previous cuts to the department’s anti-gang program, Mendoza told City Council members.
“We are currently seeing the payoff for our focus on gangs,” he said.
About 50 suspected gang members were arrested each quarter in 2003, but those arrests shot up to a high of nearly 300 for the final quarter of 2004, police records show.
At the same time, the most serious gang-related crimes - including murder, rape and robbery - dropped steadily throughout 2004 after peaking at about 70 offenses in the second quarter - April, May and June. Gang-related crimes fell to fewer than 40 offenses for the final quarter of 2004, records show.
Thirteen additional officers and detectives were added to the gang unit in April, and three graffiti-abatement officers were added in August, Mendoza said.
The gang unit - which now has 37 positions - was sharply reduced in 2002 after a city consultant recommended disbanding the unit.
Councilman Jim Lane - whose home has been struck twice in drive-by shootings that officials say could have been gang-related - praised the renewed police effort.
“Until we clean up these areas, we have to keep going,” Lane said. “It’s a terrifying experience for the people who live in these areas.”
Councilman Donavan Wheatfall said gangs are steering businesses away from some areas of the city.
“There is no outside investment because these elements are still there,” he said.
Councilwoman Wendy Davis said gang graffiti appears to be spreading into west Fort Worth, and she questioned whether the city is removing it quickly enough.
Mendoza said graffiti is typically removed within 24 hours.
Councilman Clyde Picht, however, questioned the department’s spending of $22,000 on equipment, including laptop computers, ear microphones and night-vision devices for the gang unit.
“I’m a little bit concerned about the cost of the equipment,” Picht said. “It seems high, $22,000.”
Picht also urged police to work more closely with surrounding school districts, and Mendoza said such efforts are already under way.