Fresno police vowed an ‘all hands on deck’ approach to curb violent crimes. Is it working?
While announcing the arrest of a known gang member in an armed robbery and carjacking in Northeast Fresno, Police chief Paco Balderrama on Tuesday updated the department’s efforts in curbing a summer-long surge in violent crimes in the city.
A gang suppression operation that was started Aug. 5, he said, has resulted in 38 felony arrests, 68 misdemeanor arrests, 14 gang arrests, one parole arrest, two probation arrests and the seizure of 16 firearms.
“These are 16 guns taken off of the streets,” Balderrama said. “So, in a year where we’re experiencing a record number of shootings, these are the guns being utilized in these types of shootings.”
Police are investigating whether David Hernandez, 42, the suspect arrested Monday night on felony armed robbery, attempted robbery and carjacking charges after a five-hour standoff with police at the Tempranillo Apartments on Copper Avenue, was also involved in a homicide earlier in the afternoon.
The victim of that killing, a 41-year-old woman who was found at the Cascade Apartments on North Saybrook Avenue in Northeast Fresno, is known to have had a past association with Hernandez, Balderrama said.
The Cascade Apartments is a short distance from the Cali Smoke Shop in a shopping center at East Champlain and Perrin avenues, where the armed robbery and carjacking took place.
Balderrama on Aug. 3 had outlined new tactics the police department would deploy in response to a surge in violent crime in the city and asked for help in stopping the quick release from custody of those arrested for gun crimes. The chief said it was “all hands on deck,” and that officers were coming after those doing the shooting.
“We are seeing the shooting slow down,” Balderrama said Tuesday. “When we started the gang operation we were averaging 20 a week. The last couple of weeks, it hasn’t been there. I think we’ve had 15, 16, and I believe that those numbers are actually going to go down even lower.
“(Monday night) was also the first night that we’ve had our gang suppression teams in full force. (Monday night) we started the operation, so they’re complementing our MAGEC (Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium) teams.”
There still are a number of factors the police are combating in slowing the number of violent crimes in the city including the number of guns on the streets as well as 0-dollar bail for some violent offenders.
Hernandez, who police said has a lengthy criminal history and had been arrested most recently on July 5 on DUI, suspended license and battery charges, is an example, Balderrama said.
“We were able to confirm that he was not an early release person, but somebody like him who is unstable, he’s a confirmed gang member, he’s a drug addict, he’s unstable,” Balderrama said. “Now, he’s at least being looked at in a homicide. He just pulled off an armed robbery, was in possession of a gun, of an illegal firearm when he shouldn’t have one. Yeah, people like that shouldn’t be out roaming the streets.
“They should be behind bars and we should have the support of our city and our state to make that happen. That’s one of the biggest differences that I can see from the Midwest, is the fact that we can affect violent crime and push it downward because we can arrest people and keep them in jail. Here, that’s not the case. I’ve been working with (Fresno County Sheriff Margaret) Mims about taking more jail beds. I’m looking to increase the number of beds that we purchase from five currently to eight so we can put our most prolific, violent gang members in those beds and when we can do that consistently, they’re not going to be out and roaming the streets and committing violent crime.”