GANGS OF COSTA MESA--THE REALITY
(They're primarily Hispanic, but some in the CMPD apparently don't want you to know that)
The CM PRESS is hearing a buzz from concerned citizens about signs of increased gang activity in Costa Mesa.
This buzz increased after the murder of a 17-year-old on West 19th Street last week, and after two attempted kidnappings of young girls--one on the Westside and one behind Davis Elementary School, and after the carjacking this week. We're also getting reports of more gang graffiti around the city.
The perp and victim in the murder on 19th Street are both Hispanic. The suspects in the kidnappings are Hispanic. The suspects in the car jacking are Hispanic. The suspects and victims in the drive by shootings last year in Costa Mesa are Hispanic. The gang graffiti in Costa Mesa is Hispanic.
So, what is the Costa Mesa Police Department doing? It's apparently looking for White gangs.
Huh?
On the Daily Pilot blog this week we read the following post from a concerned citizen, quoted below in relevant part:
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Jan 29, 2008 9:40 AM:
" [T]wo years ago I enrolled in the[Costa Mesa] Citizens Police Academy. When we did the module on gangs the whole two hours was only about white gangs in the city. They passed around pictures of arrested gang members, all white, sporting their tatoos of PEN1. When it got to issues of graffitti, the police showed us pix and said it was not gang related in most cases, just sort of "art". Hopefully, the CMPD will give up this politically correct nonsense...."
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The above poster's comments are a further indication to the CM PRESS that something is wrong in the CMPD's approach to stopping gangs and gang violence in our city.
We had a similar experience as the poster and we reported it in CM PRESS # 99, March 9, 2007. Here's a quick synopsis of that CM PRESS report:
The CM PRESS had heard that Costa Mesa High School had suddenly called a special assembly and forced all the students to attend. When we spoke to one of the students after the assembly, she told us that the whole assembly was about White gangs, even though the problems on campus and in the city were/are caused by Hispanic gangs. She felt the whole thing was biased propaganda. We then made a Public Records Act request to the NMUSD and watched a film of the entire CMPD presentation.
The student was right. The whole presentation put on by a CMPD officer was about White gangs. There was nothing about Hispanic gangs. There were even graphics of White supremacist tattoos, etc. that may have been supplied by an outside private group, with religious/political/social biases, that once got in trouble in San Francisco when it was discovered that a high ranking San Francisco police officer was using police computers, resources and facilities to spy on private citizens for no legitimate reasons. Those spied on were involved in legal political activities. This officer then supplied personal information on these law abiding citizens to the private group. If memory serves, the police officer later fled the country when he was caught and indicted.
The CM PRESS saw nothing in the presentation at CMHS about the real problem in Costa Mesa: Hispanic gangs.
This past year when the CMPD presented a report to the City Council about gangs, the report never once used the words "Hispanic" or "Latino." Instead, it only mentioned one group by race/ethnicity: "Whites." And, the report even said that White gangs are not a problem in Costa Mesa. So, if they're not a problem, why were they mentioned?
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The above poster's comments are a further indication to the CM PRESS that something is wrong in the CMPD's approach to stopping gangs and gang violence in our city.
We had a similar experience as the poster and we reported it in CM PRESS # 99, March 9, 2007. Here's a quick synopsis of that CM PRESS report:
The CM PRESS had heard that Costa Mesa High School had suddenly called a special assembly and forced all the students to attend. When we spoke to one of the students after the assembly, she told us that the whole assembly was about White gangs, even though the problems on campus and in the city were/are caused by Hispanic gangs. She felt the whole thing was biased propaganda. We then made a Public Records Act request to the NMUSD and watched a film of the entire CMPD presentation.
The student was right. The whole presentation put on by a CMPD officer was about White gangs. There was nothing about Hispanic gangs. There were even graphics of White supremacist tattoos, etc. that may have been supplied by an outside private group, with religious/political/social biases, that once got in trouble in San Francisco when it was discovered that a high ranking San Francisco police officer was using police computers, resources and facilities to spy on private citizens for no legitimate reasons. Those spied on were involved in legal political activities. This officer then supplied personal information on these law abiding citizens to the private group. If memory serves, the police officer later fled the country when he was caught and indicted.
The CM PRESS saw nothing in the presentation at CMHS about the real problem in Costa Mesa: Hispanic gangs.
This past year when the CMPD presented a report to the City Council about gangs, the report never once used the words "Hispanic" or "Latino." Instead, it only mentioned one group by race/ethnicity: "Whites." And, the report even said that White gangs are not a problem in Costa Mesa. So, if they're not a problem, why were they mentioned?
Chief Shawkey has now reorganized the CMPD. Here's a portion of the reorganization relating to gangs:
SPECIAL OPERATION LIEUTENANT, LT. CLAY EPPERSON
--Accountable/Responsible for all specialty assignments & responsibilities including:
-Special Enforcement Detail -Gang Detail -School Resource Officers -Park Rangers -S.W.A.T. -Research/Development pertaining to Pole Cameras, CCTV and other video surveillance system technology -Tactical Event Planning/Mobile Field Force
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Here's what the CM PRESS believes the City Council needs to do to rid our city of gangs:
1. Destroy their habitats and safe havens by thinning out the slums.
2. Discourage the over concentration of non-profits on the Westside that serve illegal aliens.
3. Reduce the industrial zoning on the Westside by about half.
4. Encourage the building of executive homes on the Westside Bluffs to attract upwardly mobile people back to the Westside and the city as a whole.
5. Enact and enforce proper day worker municipal codes similar to those in the city of Orange.
6. Ensure that ALL CMPD officers are bringing suspects to the ICE agent.
7. Use gang injunctions.
8. Stop the overcrowding of slum apartments.
9. Cross train some CMPD officers for ICE type duties.
10. Make it very clear that Costa Mesa does not want to be an illegal alien sanctuary.
# # #
Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
SPECIAL OPERATION LIEUTENANT, LT. CLAY EPPERSON
--Accountable/Responsible for all specialty assignments & responsibilities including:
-Special Enforcement Detail -Gang Detail -School Resource Officers -Park Rangers -S.W.A.T. -Research/Development pertaining to Pole Cameras, CCTV and other video surveillance system technology -Tactical Event Planning/Mobile Field Force
-----------------------
Here's what the CM PRESS believes the City Council needs to do to rid our city of gangs:
1. Destroy their habitats and safe havens by thinning out the slums.
2. Discourage the over concentration of non-profits on the Westside that serve illegal aliens.
3. Reduce the industrial zoning on the Westside by about half.
4. Encourage the building of executive homes on the Westside Bluffs to attract upwardly mobile people back to the Westside and the city as a whole.
5. Enact and enforce proper day worker municipal codes similar to those in the city of Orange.
6. Ensure that ALL CMPD officers are bringing suspects to the ICE agent.
7. Use gang injunctions.
8. Stop the overcrowding of slum apartments.
9. Cross train some CMPD officers for ICE type duties.
10. Make it very clear that Costa Mesa does not want to be an illegal alien sanctuary.
# # #
Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
