Police defend beefed up presence in troubled area
Three shootings in three months on Santa Monica’s east side has residents concerned that gang activity may be on the rise.
All of the incidents — none of which were fatal — occurred within the Pico neighborhood, which covers about eight square blocks just north of the Santa Monica Freeway to Pico Boulevard, and east to the city limits.
“To have that many shootings and not draw any attention from the police and the city council is not acceptable,” said Don Gray, who lives on 17th Street and Delaware. “It highlights a bigger failure than they want to admit. I mean, what is acceptable? Why is it different for this neighborhood?”
The neighborhood has been embroiled for years in a turf war largely between two gangs — the Graveyard Crypts and the Santa Monica 17th Street gang. And the tension appears to be not only racially motivated between the two groups — one black, the other Latino — but also drug related. Drug dealing on street corners along Delaware Avenue has a been a problem for years, say residents.
Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts Jr. said the Pico neighborhood has been a challenge for years, but the department and the city has beefed up patrolling there, which has led to a decrease in crime.
“Gang activity has fallen 83 percent in the city,” he said, adding in 1991, the SMPD had 157 gang-related crimes reported and in 2000, there were 14.
However, some residents aren’t convinced that those statistics represent an accurate picture.
“If they want to treat that stuff as anecdotal evidence then fine, but to hide behind trending statistics is wrong,” said Gray. “I think they could give a s--- that people are killing each other here.”
In November, a 24-year-old male was shot in the chest in a drive-by shooting while sitting in his car. The suspect remains at large.
On Jan. 24, the neighborhood was in “lock down” mode for hours while authorities from five jurisdictions, along with SWAT teams, searched the area for two suspects after one was stopped for a traffic violation, but fled from police. A shoot-out between police, the driver of the car and another suspect ensued throughout the neighborhood before both were caught.
A week ago, a teenager was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting while he was walking down a sidewalk near Edison Elementary School on Virginia Avenue. He remains in stable condition and his shooter remains at large.
“This kind of thing happens in South Central and East LA all the time, and nobody ever writes about it,” said one Latino man who lives in Los Angeles but hangs out at Virginia Avenue Park. “But here one kid gets hit, and it’s a big deal.”
Parents of children who attend Edison Elementary School, which is situated in the middle of the Pico neighborhood between Kansas and Virginia Avenues and Cloverfield Boulevard and 27th Street, were shocked to learn last week that a shooting occurred just feet from where their children play.
“I’m not really surprised to hear it, but I’m really surprised to find out about it,” said one Edison parent who didn’t want her name used for fear of retaliation from gangs. “Safety is always a concern for me.
“I always make sure I’m here to pick up my kids after school. I don’t like to leave them to walk home. This part of the neighborhood isn’t safe. There are gangs here. You can see them walking around.”
Edison Elementary School PTA President Carolina Williams-Kaback thought gang-related crime had been on the decline until now.
“It’s always very peaceful here,” she said. “Well, it’s the Pico neighborhood and there are some gangs, but as far as I know we haven’t had any incidents for a long time.”
Despite neighbors’ claims that only two police officers are on patrol in the area, Butts said there are nearly a half dozen who are assigned to the beat.
“That is the most single heavily patrolled area in the city,” he said. “That’s a lot of people for an eight block area.”
Along with beefed up patrol, the SMPD has delivered on its “community policing” efforts in the Pico neighborhood by placing a police station at Virginia Avenue Park. The Police Activities League on Pico Boulevard was started in the neighborhood to offer programs for area youth.
The city and the SMPD’s attack on crime starts with providing social services and offering mentoring, supervision and education opportunities to youth.
“We are having remarkable success in the community on stemming violence here,” Butts said. “And we feel the support we’ve given to the Pico neighborhood is appreciated.”
Butts points out that reason the Jan. 23 shoot-out even happened was because the police were there. Police stopped a suspicious car because officers were in patrolling the neighborhood.
“I understand that when it’s in your neighborhood any shooting is one too many,” Butts said. “But we feel like we’ve been there for them.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 18, 2002. Read the original PDF.