2021 was another deadly year in Fresno. Here’s how it could have been worse
A one-year spike in Fresno’s murder rate could’ve been an aberration. Consecutive years feel more like a trend.
Much was made about Fresno’s 74 homicides in 2020 — the city’s highest total in a quarter century. Earlier this week, 2021 pulled even. Monday’s fatal shooting of 31-year-old Veasna Nhiv at East Dakota and North Chestnut avenues, next to the Fresno-Yosemite International Airport runways, was the city’s 74th of 2021.
The number remained 74 on the final morning of Dec. 31. But with a couple investigations pending and an always eventful New Year’s Eve still ahead, Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama wasn’t counting on it staying there.
“We’ve got two days left and in Fresno anything can happen,” Balderrama said Thursday afternoon.
It certainly can. California’s fifth-largest city hasn’t experienced these sorts of homicide totals since the crack epidemic peaked in the mid ‘90s. Among the state’s 10 largest cities, Fresno’s 74 homicides (and counting) in a city of 540,000 people is a murder rate surpassed only by Oakland.
So after crunching a few numbers and talking to people a lot closer to the violence, why did I come away somewhat relieved?
Because it’s clear the bloodshed on our streets could’ve been worse. Much worse.
Consider the situation Balderrama stepped into Jan. 11 when he was sworn in. Of Fresno’s 74 homicides in 2020 (a figure provided by the Fresno PD; the State Department of Justice lists 77), 34 occurred in an especially bloody three-month period between October and December.
The surge continued into January 2021, which had 11 murders. Fresno was trending toward triple-digit homicides before the pace finally slowed in April, May and June.
“We were on pace for so many more, so the fact that we’re sitting at 74 right now — although it matches a terrible year that was 2020 — is somewhat of a positive,” Balderrama said. “You’ve got to look at all the factors.”
Although the homicide total remains high, Balderrama takes solace in a 5.3% reduction in shootings (683 from 721, through Wednesday). And when it comes to solving crimes, he’s proud of his department’s 73% clearance rate on homicide cases. Which far surpasses last year’s 38%, a figure the chief labeled “dismal.”
New Fresno police chief adjusts on fly
Balderrama attributed the reduction in shootings and elevated clearance rate to several factors, including the January additions of two new homicide detectives as well as his doubling of the Multi-Gang Enforcement Consortium (MAGEC) Tac Team in late March after a street vendor, 45-year-old Lorenzo Perez, was gunned down execution-style in southeast Fresno.
Days later, police arrested an 18-year-old gang member for the shooting. Sixty-one percent of Fresno’s homicides in 2021 were gang-related, Balderrama said. The next-largest segment, according to my own research, involved domestic violence. Victims ranged from 73-year-old grandmothers to 8-month-old infants.
At least three people described by police as homeless were shot at encampments or found stabbed in their tents. One woman, 25-year-old Jacqueline Flores, was shot while sitting in her car near Chandler Airport with her 6-year-old in the backseat. One man, 40-year-old Mike Salinas, was shot through the door of his room at the Days Inn on Jensen Avenue.
As the violence increased, the new chief continued to throw more resources at the problem.
Following an August crime wave that included three murders, a shooting spree at a downtown gas station and an hours-long hostage standoff that overlapped with a car-to-car shooting, Balderrama began a new gang suppression operation by reassigning several specialized units.
Among them were motorcycle cops who would normally be utilized for street racing, DUIs and traffic stops.
“We deploy (motorcycle cops) in certain areas where we’re expecting gang shootings and retaliation shootings,” Balderrama explained. “They patrol those areas and pull people over to where it sends a message that we’re close by. Not only have those guys taken a lot of guns off the streets, but we know they have been a deterrence in crime.”
By emphasizing violent crime, Balderrama’s tactics trimmed shootings, kept the homicide total steady and charged more suspects. But there were trade-offs. For example, the unit formerly dedicated to career car thieves now investigates gun crimes. By no coincidence, vehicle burglaries are up.
“Sometimes you have to make tough decisions, but I’ll choose lives over a few stolen cars anytime,” Balderrama said.
Advance Peace mentors having impact
Just as attuned to the violence on Fresno’s streets — and sometimes more so — is Aaron Foster, coordinator for Advanced Peace. The proven gun violence reduction program that targets active gang “shooters” arrived too late to help quell last year’s homicide spike. (For that we have a former mayor and a couple fear-mongering politicians to thank.)
However, the program’s “change agents” are still having an impact. Following a November shooting at the Pleasant Village apartments near Highway 99 that left two dead and two wounded, a crime Foster described as “brown on Black,” Advance Peace intervened to prevent any retaliatory shootings.
“We kept that from becoming a war,” Foster said. “It didn’t turn into anything bigger because we got out in front of it.”
None of the program’s “fellows” (gang members enrolled in the 18-month mentoring program since May) have been involved in any gun violence, Foster said. However, there have been instances where their entreats were ignored by feuding gang members, one of whom was later charged with killing another.
While he agrees with some of Balderrama’s tactics, Foster is skeptical others will make any long-term difference. That includes Fresno PD’s tally of “more than 2,000” illegal guns being “taken off the streets” in 2021.
“Taking guns off the street has never been effective,” said Foster, a southwest Fresno resident who lost two children to gang violence. “You need more personal involvement with the people who commit the crimes and give them some other opportunity.”
Until that happens, Fresno will continue to have an elevated homicide rate compared to other California cities. Despite the best efforts of people like Balderrama and Foster working to prevent 70-something murders per year from becoming the new normal.
This story was originally published January 1, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
