Fresno mayor candidates agree gangs are top priority

Mayoral rivals differ on how to deal with the problem, offer varied approaches.

Published online on Friday, Apr. 18, 2008

Candidates for mayor largely agree: One of Fresno's most pressing public safety problems is gangs. If they differ, it's on how to solve the problem.

Most of the candidates support the gang crackdown pursued by Police Chief Jerry Dyer's department and say they want to give Dyer more officers and resources to keep up the pressure. But some candidates say the city cannot rely only on arresting the bad guys. It also must do more to keep today's kids from becoming tomorrow's gang members.

Fresno has 771 sworn police officers, including 31 who work on gang suppression full time. They're chasing up to 8,000 gang members, Dyer estimates. About half belong to the "Bulldog" street gang, whose membership is largely Hispanic. Gang members commit up to 40% of the violent crimes in Fresno each year. In 2007, 21 of the 52 homicides were gang-related, and gang members committed another 112 shootings.

Fresno police have pursued court injunctions, gang sweeps and surveillance cameras to, as Dyer puts it, "disrupt, displace and dismantle" gangs in the city, in an effort supported by Mayor Alan Autry.

The Bee asked the mayoral candidates on the June 3 primary ballot whether they supported the current approach, or whether they would do something different.

Council Member Henry T. Perea supports Dyer's efforts but would add more police officers and increase efforts to stop new members from joining gangs.

"I am committed to meeting the national standard of two police officers per 1,000 residents and will continue to target specific gangs for elimination," Perea said. The city, he added, must do more than just hire officers -- it must provide alternatives to gangs.

"Prevention, intervention and job creation is critical to providing our youth an opportunity outside of gang life," he said.

Doug Vagim, a Fresno County supervisor from 1989 to 1997, said the city must do more than just catch gang members after they commit crimes.

"Prevention must be the foundation of reducing crime," Vagim said. "Early in my first term as a county supervisor, I called attention to the pending problem of gangs. At that time the police chief [Ed Winchester] said there wasn't a gang problem in Fresno. Now we know what happens when the problem is ignored. Enforcement is important but it is only half the solution."

Ashley Swearengin, on leave from her job as director of the Regional Jobs Initiative, said that the city can't just arrest its way out of the gang problem. She favors a balanced approach that combines enforcement and prevention.

"We need to have a strong police department with the best trained and equipped officers possible," Swearengin. "When the 'hammer' of law enforcement is needed, I want our police officers to respond as swiftly and effectively as possible. To make a long-term impact on crime, we must do a better job of offering hope" -- enhancing prevention and intervention efforts through jobs, education and community-based partners.

Police detective Henry Monreal said he would continue current anti-gang efforts, but would stop publicizing the names of the gangs, which he considered free advertising for them. Monreal said he would keep kids out of gangs by providing more alternatives, such as after-school programs. He also would look for wasted city dollars and reallocate them to those after-school programs.

Realtor Ignacio Garibay says he favors an approach to public safety that ensures that everyone's civil rights are protected. Garibay's only suggestion to combat gangs was to provide musical instruments and after-school programs for school-age children to give them alternatives to the gang lifestyle.