The new effort was described in a letter sent Thursday to the Tracy Press by City Manager Leon Churchill, Police Chief Janet Thiessen, Mayor Brent Ives and council members Evelyn Tolbert, Steve Abercrombie, Mike Maciel and Suzanne Tucker.
Starting this weekend, Churchill said, Tracy will take its four officers who concentrate on robberies and other crimes and combine them into a single group with its four anti-gang officers whose main purpose now will be to quell the rise in gang shootings and other violence.
In addition to those eight officers, a two-person crew on every patrol shift will be assigned “to gang eradication,” the letter states.
“We’ll have more people working on gang-related issues all the time,” Churchill said.
Just a few weeks ago, the gang unit was targeted to be a casualty of budget cuts as the city looks to close a projected $9 million deficit. But a recent outbreak of gun violence between warring Norteño and Sureño gangs forced administrators to act.
Spencer Sampson, 21, was shot Dec. 19 while he walked down East Street and died hours later, just hours after a 16-year-old was shot on Holly Drive and gunfire broke out in yet a third Tracy neighborhood that night.
Two days before that, a 26-year-old man was shot twice in the chest on a night when there were three reported drive-by shootings. And gunfire that police suspect is related to gangs erupted in early December, and in early November, when a man survived after being shot in the face.
But the Dec. 19 death sparked online screams from the public for officials to act. City Hall as of Wednesday had received 11 e-mails from people demanding action, and the Tracy Press Web site has fielded hundreds of comments from readers begging city officials to crack down on gangs. Some have called for vigilante justice.
“That’s really telling us there’s really an undercurrent of unrest in the community,” Churchill said.
The letter was sent because “we need to say something and communicate something,” without having to wait for the next City Council meeting on Jan. 5, he added.
The merge of officers to dampen gang crime is one of several shifts the city will make, the letter states.
Officers throughout the city are also going to crack down on small violations.
“If you’re littering, and an officer sees it, you’re going to get stopped,” Churchill said. “You’re sending a signal that no illegal activity of any kind will be tolerated. The folks who commit crime find that particularly irritable.”
Officials hope the public will become more involved in their own neighborhoods as well, by calling 9-1-1 when they see crimes in progress or by phoning in suspicious activity to 831-6648, the letter reads.
City workers will also make a greater push to eliminate graffiti in run-down neighborhoods and to help families deal with issues when close relatives are involved in gangs.
The police estimate there are 600 documented gang members in town. In 2006, then-police Chief David Krauss put that number at about 150.
The city manager wants to understand the current estimate better, he said, because while names are added to the roster, “No one ever goes off the list,” Churchill said, even though some identified gang members leave town or end up in jail or prison.
For the moment, the changes in city policy will go on “indefinitely,” though over time some tactics might be short-term solutions while others could be put in place permanently, Churchill said.
“The policing will be more aggressive, but within the bounds of appropriateness,” the city manager said.
In boot camp they will have to wear a belt to keep their britches from falling off.
Walk them out there in to Lee Ermey's with their gangsta rap fresh downloaded on the IPod and a smirk?
I'm sure that drill instructor would rip the buds out and give them something a little LOUDER to listen to?
You sure jump to conclusions?
The problem is gangs. Colors are another symptom.
Rap = Crime - LMAO!
#%!@ #$%^%$ &&^* #$%$ @$%$ $%^$%
Yes, pull them over and have the judge send them to boot camp?
The drill seargant will listen to them?
No apology necessary. I guess if they are wearing colors and blaring ganstsa rap you gotta pull em over.
« Green_Acres wrote on Friday, Jan 01 at 10:28 PM »
tomturkey,
Dat's they M.O.
I wasn't so much against rap music, but simply an observation that it does seem that all the other prior incidents were not related to gangs. I think the TP forgot.
Dat's they M.O.
I wasn't so much against rap music, but simply an observation that it does seem that all the other prior incidents were not related to gangs. I think the TP forgot.
Of the five incidents in Tracy, CA...
How many were gang related and happened only after hip hop in the downtown?
People like to say don't blame the music, but after hip hop how many were retaliation incidents?
Well, like I say, curfews, speeders, noise violations, blight, just keep the heat on them and get gang injunctions. When a person has cancer they have treatments, this town we live in has cancer, it is up to the city officials to start treatment for gang cancer.
Lodinews.com
"San Joaquin County supervisors to lay off district attorney workers to aid budget
By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Thursday, December 3, 2009 1:36 PM PST
Comments (4 comment(s))
Seven deputy district attorneys in San Joaquin County and an office assistant will start the new year on the unemployment block after the Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to lay them off.
The employees will be issued layoff notices on Dec. 18, with their final date of employment being Jan. 1.
The Board of Supervisors decided to issue the layoffs after hearing a dire budget update from County Administrator Manuel Lopez."
Search-California State Penal Code, the click the first one, find California Laws, not the one highlighted. The page should come up with California Laws. Go down the list and check 'penal code', scroll down to search GANGS. There are all kinds of state laws to read. but go back and search GANG ENHANCEMENTS and it has all kinds of more info. I want to check something tho. I thought I heard that 8 county assistant DAs were going to be let go but I have to search that. If that is the case it will be an even harder and longer to prosecute anybody for anything.
by Leon Churchill/For the Tracy PressDec 29, 2009 | 170 views | 7 | 2 | | We are all aware of the recent increase in violent crime here in Tracy. The armed robberies, aggravated assaults, gang-related crimes and homicides that we have experienced this year, coupled with the unusual nature of some of these crimes, has resulted in significantly increasing the level of fear in the community.
While our overall crime rate continues to be low, we realize that is little comfort to our residents who are genuinely concerned for the safety of their families. You have communicated to us in various ways, and we hear you clearly. Your questions are simply posed in asking what we are doing to keep our city safe.
To that end, we are quickly developing a comprehensive four-prong strategy to combat violent crime in Tracy, with an emphasis on suppressing gang activity.
This strategy to reduce violent crime will focus on:
• Enforcement
• Intervention
• Prevention
• Communication
Our efforts will be heightened for the next several weeks and then evaluated to determine effective next steps.
The first and most immediate emphasis is on enforcement, and it includes several policing tactics and strategies that ramp up the assertiveness and visibility within the police department’s field operations teams.
Everyone should also know that the gang unit is not being dissolved. Please hear us clearly about this. Although labor discussions are not yet complete, we know that not only will this unit continue to exist, but it will be combined with the street crimes unit resulting in eight (instead of four) police personnel working on street crimes, particularly gang activity, on a full-time basis.
In addition, a two-person crew on each patrol shift will be assigned to gang eradication.
This effort, along with a reinvigorated gang unit, should better enable the Tracy Police Department to know about and prevent violent gang activity before it starts.
The Tracy Police Department will also increase the intensity of its patrols of nuisance and traffic infractions. This level of policing increases contact with individuals with criminal intent and sets the tone of no tolerance of any criminal behavior.
The second emphasis will be on specific interventions that involve working with some property owners in specific locations that attract gang activity. The Tracy Police Department will enlist the help of other city staff and community resources to address graffiti cleanup and blighted areas and provide services to families struggling with the impacts of violent crime and gang involvement. We will provide assistance to those families that need help with the issue of gang involvement within their families.
As we focus on our prevention strategy, we require the involvement of the community, nonprofit organizations, residents and business owners. We need your eyes and ears!
We realize that despite our police department’s best efforts to obtain information, some people in the community have information and are reluctant to come forward. We need to create an environment that is safe for anyone to report suspicious and/or criminal activity.
Any person with information about criminal activity can call 9-1-1 in cases of emergency; or 831-6648 for non-emergency information; or e-mail gangtip@ci.tracy.ca.us.
It is extremely important that every resident of Tracy take ownership of the community’s safety and well-being. That includes getting involved in your neighborhood, taking steps to prevent crime or reduce the chances of being victimized by crime, promptly reporting suspicious or criminal activity to the police and being willing to assist with prosecution by working with law enforcement, prosecutors and others in the criminal justice system to ensure criminals are held accountable for their illegal activities.
Finally, our communication strategy focuses on diligently communicating internally within the police department and sharing information on a regular and concerted basis with our community partners and our residents.
We will continue the discussion on criminal and gang activity at the City Council’s next meeting on Jan. 5. We can discuss the strategies described earlier in this letter, or any ideas the community may have. We also plan to have several town hall meetings within neighborhoods in January to continue discussions on proactive measures we can all take to eradicate gang presence in our city.
We need to be prepared to go to great lengths to ensure the safety we desire and pursue a range of solutions that will get real results. What is most important is that we are resolute in always listening and ready to respond to the community’s needs.
Have a safe and joy-filled holiday, and beginning of a prosperous new year.
• In addition to City Manager Leon Churchill, this letter was signed by Tracy Mayor Brent H. Ives, Mayor Pro Tem Suzanne Tucker, Councilwoman Evelyn Tolbert, Councilman Steve Abercrombie, Councilman Mike Maciel and police Chief Janet Thiessen.
At a glance:
• Call 9-1-1 to report emergencies.
• Call 831-6648 to report nonemergency crimes.
• E-mail gangtip@ci.tracy.ca.us to report crime information.
http://www.tracypress.com/pages/full_story/push?article-His Voice- A four-part plan to fight city crime &id=5363029&instance=home_opinion_lead_story