My heart goes out to the people in the Meadowview neighborhood, who are currently suffering through the most murderous year in the city’s recent history–one killing a month this year, and staggeringly three in the last week. Overall, 42 murders in the city YTD represent a 35 percent increase over 2005.
Firstly, after my last string of posts about crime in the city and the Commissioner’s public response, I want to make sure I put it on record that the men and women on the street fighting crime have my respect and support. I wouldn’t want to give the impression that I think the uniformed cops and detectives are not trying hard to win the war. My beef is with the attitude expressed in the leadership’s public statements–that people in crime-challeneged neighborhoods should not worry because most of the violent crime is being committed by hardened criminals.
Well, they are at it again regarding the situation in Meadowview…
The quotes from Meadowview residents, and common sense, tell a different story than the commissioner’s office would like…
“We can’t understand this, it’s like a nightmare” [Inez Martinez]
“If you ignore it, you are going to have this domino effect” [Rhonda Erwin, a community activist]
“We just walked outside our house and we saw the body. It is terrible … We don’t normally see things like this” [Alicia Short]
Contrast that with the PR stance taken by the Sac PD:
Police spokesman Terrell Marshall said most of the gang violence in the city results from “minor disputes” and that law-abiding residents of Meadowview should not feel targeted.
“The bottom line is they are not the next target,” he said. “The next target is probably a rival gang member.”
They are committing murder over minor disputes and that’s nothing to worry about? The disconnect is pretty frightening. I don’t think these honest, innocent citizens are worried that they’ll be targeted on their way to pick up groceries or out on the porch enjoying the finally-comfortable evening weather. Look at the proximity of the murders to the schools in that area. I think it’s sickening that the Sac PD’s primary response is to try to ease the public’s worry by … telling them not to worry. It’s like they are trying to use logic to prove that they shouldn’t fear for their lives–I think most residents would say try living in the middle of this for a few months and see how logical you feel.
I am encouraged that a seven-member street gang enforcement team (that’s more than Farmington gets! Meadowview should hope for more Ronnies and fewer Shanes. But I digress) is being dispatched. But then I read this:
[Rod] Norgaard, supervising deputy district attorney with the office’s gang and hate crime unit, said, “Meadowview is a community that has a very bad problem with gang membership.”
He said gangs have a strong, long-lasting presence in the southern part of the city and county. Turf conflicts are amplified by large gang numbers in a concentrated area, said Norgaard, who estimates a majority of violent crimes in the county are committed by gang members.
So Meadowview has a “strong, long-lasting” gang presence but Michael Chiklis is only now being tasked? Maybe that’s incorrect.
The Sac Rag 
Let’s see what comes of this meeting:
http://www.kcra.com/news/9683256/detail.html
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