Thread: Gang sweep corrals 50

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_3274166

100 agents from several jurisdictions team up in Colton
Kelly Rush, Staff Writer

COLTON - More than 100 officers from agencies around the county saturated the streets here Friday night in a "zero tolerance" gang sweep and made at least 50 arrests.
Teams of law enforcement officials swooped down on the city, targeting known and suspected gang members who have plagued the Colton area with crime, officers said.

The Colton Police Department and about a dozen agencies that are part of the SMASH team, or San Bernardino Movement Against Street Hoodlums, participated in the one-night operation.

At a briefing at the National Guard Armory here before the sweep began, the men and women were instructed to fill out cards on each gang member they interviewed to be entered into a statewide database.

There are about four active street gangs in the Colton area and many of the members' families have been involved in the groups for generations, said Colton police Officer Tim Heusterberg.

The violence is handed down from fathers to sons.

The locations of local hospitals were pointed out, strategies were hashed out and then a final word before they headed out: 200 burgers would be waiting for them when they got back.

Those participating in the sweep had lists of targets who had warrants for their arrest or who needed to be checked because they're on probation or parole.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Joseph Mujica called the operation successful.

Sweeps bring quiet to a city, if only for a short while. Maybe for one night, nobody commits any crimes, Mujica said.

"Look at it (from the point of view) of a citizen," he said. "If there's one night you don't have to hear gunshots and sirens ... well, that's one night of good sleep."

Erasmo Carrizosa, an agent with a U.S. Department of Justice gang team, said his agency mostly works on long-term assignments, such as dismantling crime networks and putting entire gangs out of business.

The Justice Department is looking to become more active in short-term operations such as SMASH as well, he said.

"It's more fun - you get immediate results," he said of the sweeps. "It's the gratification of getting a case resolved."

Teams often walked the neighborhoods on foot, hitting their targets block by block - a parade of law enforcement heading down a city sidewalk with different colored uniforms but the same mission.

Residents appeared a little wary, yet mostly unfazed by the unexpected arrival of so many law-enforcement agents in their neighborhoods.

At the Four Seasons apartment complex on Laurel Street, several people were arrested on suspicion of drug sales and possibly having outstanding warrants, sheriff's deputies said.

Deputies also planned a sweep through an apartment complex near Mill and Rancho streets, known to locals as The Zoo.

Early in the night, a sheriff's deputy in the SMASH unit stopped two Latino males who walked north across N Street, near Fifth Street, during the sweep. Dressed in trademark dark blue clothing, which represents the south side of Colton, a 15-year-old boy and his 18-year-old brother sat on a curb and discussed their gang life with Deputy Mike Martinez while he ran their records with dispatchers.

Sporting a green cloth hanging from his waist, the older brother explained to Martinez how he was on Youth Authority parole for stealing cars and how he had been stopped by police officers every day for the last five days.

"That means (police) are doing their job," Martinez said.

"Look at it (from the point of view) of a citizen," he said. "If there's one night you don't have to hear gunshots and sirens ... well, that's one night of good sleep."

So, this is the new standard of our US neighborhoods? ONE NIGHT OF GOOD SLEEP?

God Help Us...our country is insane.

Originally Posted by Judy

"Look at it (from the point of view) of a citizen," he said. "If there's one night you don't have to hear gunshots and sirens ... well, that's one night of good sleep."

So, this is the new standard of our US neighborhoods? ONE NIGHT OF GOOD SLEEP?

God Help Us...our country is insane.

Judy that's exactly what I thought when I read this. SHAME ON GOVERNMENT FOR LETTING IT GET THIS BAD.