San Bernardino - Six man police team to watch gangs

Chief's team to keep watch on SB gangs
Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/21/2009 08:00:00 PM PST


SAN BERNARDINO - The gang problem in San Bernardino is undeniable.
About 5,950 documented gang members reside in the city, a number which has steadily risen over the years.

Police do not track how many gang members are arrested, but say a significant number of shootings and other violent crimes in the city are gang-related.

That is why Police Chief Keith Kilmer has created a six-man team that will hit the streets in January and focus solely on gangs.

The Gang Enforcement Team will alternate shifts with the Multiple Enforcement Team, meaning a gang team will be working every day of the week.

"We want to stay on top of the gangs and be very proactive," Kilmer said. "If we get involved early on and stay on it, it's likely we can prevent retaliatory shootings."

The detectives will be expected to know who's who in the gang world and be familiar with their turf. They will monitor gang activity and assist patrol officers with gang-related calls.

If the teams are always aware of what is happening within the city's 60-plus gangs as well as which ones are feuding, police say it could help prevent retaliation and confrontations.

"I expect to see a huge difference because now we can keep the pressure on them seven days a week," said Sgt. Rod Topping, who oversees MET. "And we'll have double the amount of officers solely dedicated to proactive gang enforcement."

There have always been detectives working on

gang crime - MET handles gang issues, but is also responsible for SWAT duties - but this is the first team to dedicate all of its time and resources to monitoring gangs.
"To be quite frank, we will be creating an unpleasant climate in our city for anyone involved in gangs," said Sgt. Dan Gomez, who will lead the new team. "Our main goal is to be present every single day, every single night, covering every street and every alley in San Bernardino."

He said the team will be accessible to the public and asked for anyone with information about gang activity to call the anonymous police tip line at 909-384-5656

Im still learning about gangs and how they work and everything, but at first read, this article sounds like the cops are like a drop in the bucket. divide some 5000+ gang members by 6, sounds kinda hard. And to be on EVERY street, in EVERY alley, well I thought only Jesus could do that. And how does he exspect them to have such intel so quick? He makes it sound like first day on the job they will have a roster or calender of all gang activity. And in the article it mentions something like doubleing the amount of officers, so that means they had 3 and now 6?....... It makes sense why they want to try and prevent shoot outs, but with such a small force their objectives seem mighty lofty.

I find those numbers to be skewed. In my opinion there is no way one could arrive at such an exact number with regards to gang members in the city.

NYTE RYDA wrote:I find those numbers to be skewed. In my opinion there is no way one could arrive at such an exact number with regards to gang members in the city.

yeah very true there may be even more but they will never know exactly how many there is and each office responsible to patrol the activity of over 1000 each is really hard to do

Miss L to answer your question: There is no way they can do that. BUt what they will rely on and utilize is the "rat" factor that is prevalent in gang culture of today. They will also rely on others' stupidity and willingness to talk with them. That is where their intel will come from...and i'm sure it will come quick as they expect.

MissL wrote:Im still learning about gangs and how they work and everything, but at first read, this article sounds like the cops are like a drop in the bucket. divide some 5000+ gang members by 6, sounds kinda hard. And to be on EVERY street, in EVERY alley, well I thought only Jesus could do that. And how does he exspect them to have such intel so quick? He makes it sound like first day on the job they will have a roster or calender of all gang activity. And in the article it mentions something like doubleing the amount of officers, so that means they had 3 and now 6?....... It makes sense why they want to try and prevent shoot outs, but with such a small force their objectives seem mighty lofty.

LOL .. missy got a keen mind woof woof, let me wolf at you

wolfman wrote:

MissL wrote:Im still learning about gangs and how they work and everything, but at first read, this article sounds like the cops are like a drop in the bucket. divide some 5000+ gang members by 6, sounds kinda hard. And to be on EVERY street, in EVERY alley, well I thought only Jesus could do that. And how does he exspect them to have such intel so quick? He makes it sound like first day on the job they will have a roster or calender of all gang activity. And in the article it mentions something like doubleing the amount of officers, so that means they had 3 and now 6?....... It makes sense why they want to try and prevent shoot outs, but with such a small force their objectives seem mighty lofty.

LOL .. missy got a keen mind woof woof, let me wolf at you

You seem to enjoy commenting on my comments and half the time I don't know if your giving me a complament or being a sarcastic ass....And btw Im not a female dog so barking or woofing or whatever has no effect, maybe you should try a different approach.

What you except him to do if hes a wolf? lol