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| New Gang Game Plan Brews |
| By San Mateo Daily Journal |
| Published: 09/26/2005 |
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Faced with a mounting gang problem throughout San Mateo County, California, officials plan to spend more than $1 million fighting back with an entirely new investigative unit including increased law enforcement, a dedicated prosecutor and a more strategic effort to quell street violence. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will kick off its final budget hearings with a request to create the San Mateo County Gang Intelligence and Investigations Unit. While the proposal still needs majority approval before taking root, Supervisor Jerry Hill sees no stumbling blocks in allocating an extra $518,597 from the county budget's general fund. Combined with the roughly half-million dollars already in the Sheriff's Office budget, the county expects to spend a total of $1,010,976 for the start-up budget to battle gangs. The multi-pronged approach, according to proponents, will soon truncate the growing gang violence that has sent arrest rates soaring and sparked countywide concern. The first goals are the creation of a centralized clearinghouse of gang members and information as well as establishing a confidential tip hot line. The county also plans to kick up prosecution in local, state and federal courts. The database comes at the urging of the civil grand jury which found the county lacking in a centralized, comprehensive source for statistics. At the jury's suggestion, the county has also scheduled a Youth Violence Prevention Workshop Oct. 3 to figure out other interdisciplinary ways to reduce crime. The idea for the unit began about three weeks ago after a series of meetings with Hill, Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson, Sheriff Don Horsley, Chief Probation Officer Loren Buddress, District Attorney Jim Fox and County Manager John Maltbie. The group continually massaged the plan until the final proposal came together late Wednesday, Hill said. An Aug. 30 report issued by the San Mateo County Probation Department cites a 68 percent increase in gang membership since 1992. California Department of Corrections' gang experts also note that prison gangs are recruiting local street gang members at young ages. As a result, Fox said, his office has filed “significantly more gang cases this year than the last several years combined.” In many of the cases, victims targeted as gang members do not belong to a gang but are simply byproducts of turf wars, Fox said. More than a dozen murders have happened in East Palo Alto this year alone. In Redwood City over the summer, two people died in suspected gang crime while another was seriously wounded after being struck by a car and beaten with bottles. In a fatal July 12 shooting, the suspect is a 14-year-old boy the youngest murder defendant ever tried as an adult in San Mateo County. As gang violence escalated through the summer, cities held public meetings to cull solutions and the topic even arose at council candidate forums. On Sept. 12, Redwood City allocated $200,000 for officer and overtime costs specifically related to gang crime but residents still peppered officials with questions about race and concern. Supervisor Gibson, whose district includes the gang-plagued areas of East Palo Alto and unincorporated Redwood City, was notably absent from an August town hall meeting about gang violence but worked with Hill and the others on the unit initiative. Hill believes the unit will become a county fixture rather than disappearing if the violence or funding dissipates as in the past. |
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