In pursuit of mass shooters, Fresno police look to overcome challenges
In figuring out who was behind the recent killing of four men at a southeast Fresno party, the department has some unique hurdles to clear in its lack of Hmong officers.
Some have also wondered if a sign of the disconnect between the police department and Southeast Asian community is how that department developed an Asian gang task force in the aftermath of the shooting.
That’s despite the fact police have said thus far there’s no evidence the killings were gang related. Some members of the community expressed displeasure in putting the word “gang” in the description of the task force.
Chief Andy Hall on Friday told The Bee the name of the task force is irrelevant.
“What I call it doesn’t make a difference. The fact is we have a single focus, which is to go after the suspects that committed this crime,” Hall said on Friday. “What we called the task force makes no difference to me, and I think it makes no difference to the families.”
Hall said a similar task force has existed in the past but has been dormant for some time.
The victims of the shooting were all of Hmong descent, and the violence happened Nov. 17 in a 10-block neighborhood with the city’s most densely populated Southeast Asian community, according to police.
So far, there have been no arrests and police said they know little about the shooters. No descriptions have been provided publicly.
Hmong officers
Despite the relatively large size of Fresno’ s Hmong community (a 2015 Pew Research poll put that population at 34,000, about 6.4% of the city’s population) the ranks of police officers of Southeast Asian descent are comparatively smaller.
The department has about 800 officers and at least 10 — less than 2% — are Hmong, according to Lt. Mark Hudson. The department has 10 officers who receive the bilingual pay for speaking Hmong, Hudson noted, adding it’s possible there are other Hmong officers who have never asked for the additional pay.
Even with those obstacles, however, Hall said his department has the resources to solve the crime.
“We’re always active in the recruiting from the community and we would encourage all families in the community to get involved in law enforcement to increase our diversity and reflection of the community,” he said on Friday. “Do we have sufficient resources? I would say ‘yes.’ ”
Officers say they can also call in a favor, if necessary, from other law enforcement agencies or tap community groups for Hmong liaisons.
Police say seven of the department’s 10 Hmong officers are working in the southeast district now that three have been recently reassigned. One of the department’s Hmong officers, who came to the U.S. from Vietnam, has also designed community-based policing programs in the neighborhood for years.
Officers have said they believe two people used automatic handguns to open fire Sunday night on more than a dozen men watching football in the backyard of the southeast Fresno home.
Generally, witnesses or people with information feel more comfortable interacting with a police officer who looks and sounds like them, police confirmed.
Loss of an experienced officer
Perhaps complicating the job of the police is the recent loss of Phia Vang, a 48-year-old Hmong off-duty Fresno officer killed by a wrong-way driver while driving his truck on Feb. 4 on Highway 180, east of Fresno.
Vang was influential in the community and worked in the southeastern district where the shooting took place, according to police. Southeast district Lt. Stephen Viveros said it was difficult to lose Vang’s experience and the respect he had garnered in 26 years, but another Hmong officer of 18 years stepped in.
Vang was well known in the community, according to Blong Xiong, who served on Fresno City Council from 2007 to 2015.
“He was one of the senior Hmong officers there. He was well respected. His family was well respected,” Xiong said. “To lose him, especially the time he spent in the community, was difficult for our community. It was a big loss for the community and, I’m sure, for the police department.”
“There’s a shortfall of Southeast Asian officers available to the community,” he continued.
Xiong said Fresno police have begun community policing efforts that extend into Southeast Asian communities, and relations with officers are slowly improving. The older generations of Fresno’s Hmong typically came from regions of Southeast Asia where the governments and their agents were not to be trusted, he said.
The Hmong people are originally from the mountains of Laos, China, Vietnam and Thailand. They were recruited by the CIA to fight during the Vietnam War, and many emigrated as war refugees after the United States left Vietnam and communists took over Laos.
Often older Hmong, who may speak limited English, are hesitant to speak to non-Hmong officers, according to Bobby Bliatout, a nonprofit healthcare provider running for Congress. “It’s not about being afraid. It’s about we don’t know what to do,” he said. “The elders don’t know what they can say. If it’s a Hmong officer, they can speak comfortably and freely.”
The Hmong community has long asked for more officers and dispatchers who speak the language, Bliatout said. Police say they try to recruit a diverse police force but it’s still an individual’s choice to join law enforcement.
Fear of more violence
The Hmong New Year celebration is about a month away, so small family gatherings and larger events are expected every weekend through the end of the year, according to Hmong leaders. The fear of more violence has many in the community rattled.
Capt. Anthony Martinez, who oversees the southeastern district of the city, said the victims of Sunday’s violence have been cooperative with police.
Martinez said generally a language barrier is a challenge for responding officers even when the victims speak English. The victims may resort to their first language and need to be calmed before they’ll feel comfortable in English.
“Sometimes we have language barriers. Sometimes we have trust issues,” he said. “That’s not the feeling that we got (Sunday) night. They were doing everything they could to help us.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 2:46 PM.
