New gang game plan brews

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 unit will operate under the umbrella of the county's Narcotics Task Force. Initially, one sheriff's sergeant and two detectives and one deputy probation officer will be reassigned to the unit. A specialized prosecutor and crime analyst position will also be added. In phase two, the units will add two city detectives and the ongoing commitment of all countywide jurisdictions.

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 proposal for an entire unit goes beyond even what the grand jury recommended and expands current efforts such as the countywide task force and specialized operations.

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.

While San Mateo County has never been completely devoid of gang crime, the violence tends to hover in hubs like East Palo Alto and the unincorporated areas of Menlo Park and Redwood City. As 2005 winds down, the number of incidents has escalated throughout the county while the age of the alleged participants appeared to plummet.

"They are more violent, aggressive and younger and spread around the county more," 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.

For example, he said, an Aug. 3 gang-related drive-by shooting tore through the parking lot of a San Mateo McDonald's fast food restaurant in mid-day. Jesus Alberto Barron, 19, was later arrested for the incident at the El Camino Real restaurant in a rivalry against alleged rival Norteños.

The crime, Fox said, shows that gang members are perceiving threats in new locales and are growing more brazen in where they retaliate.

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.

The new prosecutor position lets Fox free up one of the three attorneys training in gang prosecution to focus solely on the issue. Currently, the three trained prosecutors switch off cases but the tightly staffed office does not have the resources to let one individual handle everything, he said.

"It will let us have a consistent approach instead of handing cases back and forth," Fox said.

Part of prosecuting gang-related activity is proving motive. In addition to the crimes themselves, special gang-affiliation charges can be tacked onto a case, stiffening sentences and - in murder - raising the possibility of seeking the death penalty and trying juveniles as adults.

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.

Gibson and Horsley did not return calls for comment about the plan.

Hill believes the unit will become a county fixture rather than disappearing if the violence or funding dissipate as in the past.

"In the early '90s we put serious resources into gangs and it went away. But then we stopped and created a vacuum which was soon filled up again, creating a feeding ground for new gangs. Now, we need to look at the long-term basis," Hill said.

The board votes at 9 a.m. Sept. 27 in Board Chambers, 400 County Government Center, Redwood City.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.