AnonymousSource: Santa Barbara County Grand Jury
As a result of recent gang-related violence in Santa Barbara County, the 2019-20 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury initiated a study of gang incidents and how various agencies are addressing them. Law enforcement agencies county-wide have had to adapt to a changing legal landscape that allows more leniency in dealing with crime, and in particular juvenile crime. As a result, juveniles are joining gangs at a younger age, without the fear of legal consequences. The Probation Department, the Sheriff’s Department, and the police departments need to understand and help each other now more than ever to reconcile what is happening in street gangs with changes in the laws.
The Jury recommends that the Santa Barbara County District Attorney, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, the Santa Barbara County Probation Department, the Santa Barbara County Public Defender and the Police Departments of Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Lompoc and Guadalupe form a consortium and meet on an ongoing basis to fight gang crime in Santa Barbara County. The Sheriff’s Department in particular needs to be an integral part of the consortium. Gang units need to be at full strength and there needs to be stronger coordination among all police officers and Sheriff’s Deputies to share intelligence and information to prevent gang activities.
The complete report with agency responses are posted on the Grand Jury’s website: www.sbcgj.org [and attached below].
Very much needed. May this consortium stay vigilant and consistent!
What reactionary crap. The idea that “leniency” has encouraged young people to join gains is the justification for fascist government. Suppressing things only goes bad in the long run. Look to the cause and stop labeling things to simplify thought. “Gangs” are just associations of people, in this case the eternal rebellion of youth. Help them along instead of locking them up.
Maybe if we didn’t have one of the worst public school systems in the country, and SBUSD complied with Cal/Fed regulations mandating it to assess and serve children suffering from depression and other mental health challenges, and educate them, we wouldn’t have a ‘gang problem.’
“RHS”, try reading the report.
Don’t kid yourself, if a kid commits a serious offense, they are going to spend some time in jail, get on a list, and get stopped by the local cops checking them out. What they cops are complaining about is the inability to get them held for a couple of days on a fairly minor crime due to Covid concerns. I can’t believe that a beat cop can make a judgment not to process a kid because they think they will be out in a few hours. If this is being done, this is at the direction of cop managers and City/County politicians. If we have a problem with what is happening, it should be addressed at those levels.
The implication that ‘church’ life would help in this sort of thing is pretty odd. How many wars has religion caused? How many wars has religion stopped? By all reports church going was a big deal before, during and after the Civil War. Don’t see that church members stayed out of the fight to maintain slavery. etc
Even the blind can see the rise in gang activity in the past few years… Nothing idealistic about it. And, it’s getting worse. Who likes living by the laws of the jungle?
In the kingdom of the one-eyed person the blind are fooled. What you say is obvious to you is not supported by either the data or historical analysis. Panic and fear are not good things to push.
School achievement starts at home, and the lower economic status homes these kids come from are not conducive to educational success. The numbers show that middle class and upper class kids get a fine education rivaling European School achievement. It isn’t until you put in the lack of achievement by poor students that our schools start to look bad compared to other nations. None of these programs will be successful until we figure out how to develop an economic system that allows most or all of us to be in the middle class.
Kids join gangs because their material conditions are such that they see gang life as the only way to provide for themselves and their families. Bad public schools barely scratches the service although it certainly doesn’t help that rich families can put their kids in private school or public schools located in exclusive areas, leaving those in low income neighborhoods behind.
Until we address the structural racism and classism in this community the children of poor parents will continue to be left behind.
Schools out, church life minimal now.I have been involved with this SB problem for decades. You have to meet with the team leaders to prevent crime being their first choice. Former (rehabilitated) gang types can help. Years ago (1980’s) we had a competitive “car low -rider rally” here where each gang entered a restored car, and they were paraded up State street to Earl Warren for see how to fix these cars up with mini-workshops on how, Got kids restoring cars, got them jobs. Crime dropped significantly and other competitions evolved. They also did paid community service. Seems like they could do more with Law Enforcement projects? Why not? Gov. Brown’s California Conservation Corps (gang folks and inner city kids) helped build out Presidio Chapel at the State Park, and worked on public works projects.
Unfortunately, this is an age where breaking rules and laws are rather normal behavior as they get more independent and have more chances with less enforcement. On the other hand they love projects which illustrate members and skills. Teen life is about being accepted into a group–now a mini mob or pack– It is about having some role to play in these “pending adulthood” years. With schools out –Gangs and their evil intent are observable. Mao’s China and use of kids as “red guards” torturing and acting out against people in need is always a risk these days with young people who protest our history, and trying to destroy it without real knowledge progress made over millennia–can only get worse. It’s acknowledgement , some power they want; not a record of crime.
If the family does not offer a sense of belonging and responsibility, and if the educational system does not foster learning as an activity with purpose, then the young person floundering and needy goes to the gang. And our justice system no longer punishes bad behavior, so the thrill of transgression leads to worse.
What kind of person would not honor that practicing one’s religion is a right and a gift for people who need to believe in loving one’s neighbor as oneself — sounds right no? Radicals do start wars in the worst places where innocent people die. We know for certain that these kids need mentoring and churches are mentioned by kid who stop with their acting out. By the way it was church people who promoted and insisted on abolition and protected slaves when they ran. AA and Alanon are also highly effective. Please stop rewriting history to suit your own “religious” dogma.