Enforcement focus aimed at gangs means fewer shootings in Fresno, police chief says

Fresno police efforts to cut shootings and homicides through an emphasis on targeting armed gang members with special units is paying dividends in the first month of 2018, Chief Jerry Dyer said Monday, with shootings citywide down 33 percent.

At a news conference staged in front of dozens of guns seized since the start of the year, Dyer said shootings in the first 28 days of 2018 dropped to 33, compared to 51 in the same period in 2017, and the number of homicides have dropped from four to two. Dyer ordered special response teams onto the street during the last part of 2017, when murders jumped to 56 from 39 the previous year. There were also 516 shootings last year.

The chief also noted a drop in other violent crimes, with a 25 percent reduction in rapes and a decline in robberies by 18 percent. Dyer has set a goal of 20 percent fewer homicides and shootings this year for his department.

But the number of firearms in the hands of Fresno criminals still proves vexing to Dyer and other law enforcement officials at the news conference, including District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp. On display were numerous pistols and revolvers, along with shotguns, high-powered rifles and assault weapons with high-capacity magazines. Many of the weapons were taken in home break-ins where the weapons were not secured, and others arrived from out of the state. Often the guns were used in multiple crimes as gang members shared a weapon, and sometimes, one shooter would use the same firearm more than once, Dyer said.

Smittcamp warned gun owners to keep their weapons secured.

“Lock up your guns,” she said. “Bad people are out there looking for these weapons.”

As an example the type of arrests made by officers searching for guns in the hands of convicted felons, Dyer cited the arrest of Logan Meleskie, 37, who was arrested on Jan. 1, during a police investigation of celebratory gunfire fired on New Year’s Eve.

Dyer said Meleskie was taken into custody after officers went to the 2300 block of East Swift Avenue, where the department’s gunshot tracking system recorded multiple shots from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. the previous night. The officers found a .45 caliber shell casing in the yard and were allowed entry into the home, where they recovered multiple weapons, including an AK-47, along with a video of several people firing guns, including Meleskie’s 15-year-old stepson. Meleskie, prohibited from owning guns because of a previous felony conviction, was booked on multiple charges.

This story was originally published January 29, 2018 at 3:52 PM with the headline "Enforcement focus aimed at gangs means fewer shootings in Fresno, police chief says."