Tag: Gang Policing

  • Council Supports Initiative to Fight Gangs

    Members of the Community Assistance Support Team go door-to-door at the Casa Sierra apartment complex in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of San Diego. They check in on residents for months after they’ve witnessed a gang shooting to ensure they have the services they need to move forward rather than becoming wrapped up in the gang…

  • Gang Notification Letters Are a Win for Transparency — and So Far Not Much Else

    In the past, parents might not learn their children are documented gang members until they’re summoned to court for the child’s arraignment. Now, under a new state law, parents will discover police believe their children are gang members in a letter instead of in court. Speak City Heights reporter Megan Burks says the letters are…

  • Ending Gang Retaliation With Text Messages

    The San Diego Police Department shares real-time information on gang homicides so former gang members can work to stop retaliation — starting at the hospital. Video by Brian Myers, Media Arts Center San Diego. | Video Credit: Brian Myers, Media Arts Center San Diego By Megan Burks When two Mount Hope gang members were shot…

  • The Fine Line Between Gang Policing and Gang Behavior

    Some community members community have likened members of the San Diego Police Department’s gang suppression unit to Stormtroopers or a gang itself. One officer admitted his unit is less connected with the community than it should be, but said it’s moving in the right direction. | Video Credit: Brian Myers, Media Arts Center San Diego…

  • What’s Behind San Diego’s Gang Problem?

    By Megan Burks Local street gangs are growing and getting harder to police, according to officials from nine out of 11 law enforcement agencies who spoke to SANDAG for a study released this week. A possible reason, they said, is the state’s prison realignment effort, which shortens sentences for low-level offenders and relies more heavily on local jails…