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Police set on dismantling gangs
Chief Dyer vows to 'disrupt, displace' Fresno gang activity.
By Paula Lloyd / The Fresno Bee
04/02/08 23:23:52
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| CRAIG KOHLRUSS/THE FRESNO BEE |
Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer points to photos of gang members arrested recently by the Police Department's West Fresno Tactical Team, standing in the background, as several firearms confiscated in arrests are displayed during a news conference at police headquarters Wednesday.
Standing at a podium flanked by two tables laden with weapons of gang warfare, Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer promised that police won't stop efforts to "disrupt, displace and dismantle gangs" from Fresno."We're in it for the long haul," Dyer said at a news conference Wednesday.Police are increasing the use of a major gang-fighting tool, the placement of video surveillance cameras in high-crime neighborhoods.Video cameras near Parkway Drive and Belmont Avenue already captured a recent shooting, Dyer said. Within two weeks, more cameras will be added to four known gang areas: Fresno Street between B and C streets, Jensen Avenue near Elm and Cherry avenues, First and Tulare streets, and Belmont Avenue between Cedar and Palm avenues.Dyer said the Fresno Street location is "inundated with violent crime and shootings."Police formed the West Fresno Tactical Team in August 2007 to fight gangs in southwest Fresno after 20 people were shot and wounded within two months over that summer.The final straw, Dyer said, was the Aug. 1 brazen daylight shooting death of Evijeni Mesa Perez, 29, moments after she had registered her children at King Elementary School in southwest Fresno.Tyrone Cowan, 20, was arrested and charged with Perez's murder. In March, Cowan was found to be incompetent to stand trial and is scheduled to be transferred to a treatment facility, the District Attorney's Office said.The tactical team targets members of the Dog Pound, Villa Posse and Strother Brothers gangs, who Dyer called "the most violent and dangerous criminals in Fresno."Police are targeting hard-core gang members, called "untouchables" because they have eluded arrest for crimes that police believe they've committed.Since the tactical team began, police have made almost 800 felony arrests of gang members and seized about 70 weapons, Dyer said, including the 22 semiautomatic and automatic rifles and handguns displayed at the news conference.Mug shots of suspects in six of those cases, including Cowan, were displayed at the press conference. The others are: Piseth Tommy Mam, 29, who police say traveled from Washington state to sell weapons and drugs to gang members; Timothy Stockstill, 21, who is facing weapons charges; Christopher Cookson, 28, and Demetris Brown, 29, charged with assault with a deadly weapon during a home invasion; and Omar Warren, 19, charged with the December 2007 murder of Michael Haynes.Another technique to get violent gang members out of Fresno, Dyer said, is to seek federal prosecution for serious gun charges, which could mean prison terms of up to 20 years.Some local gang members, tiring of police pressure, are moving to Madera or Visalia, police Sgt. Dennis Lowry said. Dyer said law enforcement officials in those areas are alerted when suspected gang members move there.Dyer said the only places he wants to see gang members move is into prison or out of gangs.
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