Kern county DA says 85 percent of 'shot callers' are off the streets

DA says 85 percent of 'shot callers' are off the streets

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x443327935/DA-says-85-percent-o...


An anti-gang program announced last summer has been "very successful"
with 85 percent of the 105 shot callers either in custody, dead,
moved
out of state or the subject of warrants and
pending cases, District Attorney Ed Jagels said Thursday at a news
conference.


Jagels picked six of the worst offenders as examples: five are behind
bars and one is dead.


Three were just convicted in a triple murder case and will never get
out of prison.


The program is so successful that it is adding another gang, the
"Colonia Bakers", to its target list, Jagels said. The Colonia is a
Hispanic gang of about 500 members and associates whose
territory is between Niles and Brundage streets and Fairfax and
Washington streets.


The gangs currently on the target list are East Side, West Side,
Country Boy and Mona Park crips, Bloods and MYFA (McFarland).


MYFA's are a Hispanic street gang, as McFarland is 86% Mexican. It's
on the border between Sureno (Mexican Mafia) territory and Norteno
(Nuestra Familia) territory.


The Nortenos grandparents came here illegally about 75 years ago, so
they resent the influx of more recent Mexicans from the Los Angeles
area.


Jagels noted that gang issues are important to the entire community
because violent crimes can occur where law-abiding citizens encounter
gangbangers hopped up on crack or meth, such as Valley Plaza or the
Marketplace.


And gang members live in some low crime neighborhoods. For example,
two of the three defendants in the triple murder case lived in
Laurelglen and Westchester, prosecutor Cynthia Zimmer said.


Jagels said the goal was to have all 105 in custody or otherwise
unable to commit crimes by this July. Because almost everyone on the
list is either on parole or on probation, officers
have been able to conduct searches of them without the need for a
warrant and find evidence of crimes such as guns or drugs, he said.


He said his staff will prosecute anyone on the list and seek the
longest possible sentence -- even if it is a crime, such as spousal
abuse, which is not typically a gang crime.


It may be too early to tell if gang crime has been reduced by the
program, Jagels said, but it appears to be the case. At a minimum,
the
shot callers in jail or prison are not committing
crimes, he said.


He said law enforcement has anecdotal evidence, such as listening to
recorded jail conversations or talking to people in the community,
that gang members are worried about being
targets.


They have to keep their guns farther away and take time to avoid
arrest rather than plan the commission of crimes, he said.
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The last remark makes me wonder where the gang bangers stash their
guns between crimes.


It seems like if they ask a homie to hold a gun for them, the homie
is
likely to 1) use the gun in his own crime, 2) sell it for drug money,
or 3) hand the gun over to the cops so he can cut a deal on whatever
crime he's being charged with...