here is an interesting article. it is about the parkside bulldogs, but who knows when an injunction can be put on one of you'alls varrios. here is the link to article which has some additional pictures and maps.
http://www.fresnobee.com/home/local/story/10077714p-10904737c.html
New war on an old gang
Armed with an injunction that makes it illegal for gang members to gather in public, police have swarmed a neighborhood near Roeding Park. But the Parkside Bulldogs say the injunction violates their civil rights.
By Tim Eberly / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Sunday, March 6, 2005, 7:04 AM)
Fresno police officer Ron Hughes spots a new gang tag on a fence in the Parkside neighborhood in January. After documenting the Parkside Bulldogs, a gang near Roeding Park, authorities gained an injunction that makes it illegal for members to be together in public.
Darrell Wong / The Fresno Bee
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First-generation gang member looks beyond past to the future
GANGS AND POLICE
IDENTIFYING GANG MEMBERS
Police use 10 criteria to validate gang members. Three are needed to be considered a gang member, two to be an "associate" of a gang.
1. Admitting you are a gang member or associated with a gang.
2. Being seen with gang members.
3. Having gang tattoos.
4. Wearing gang clothing, symbols, etc.
5. Being photographed with gang members or using gang hand signs.
6. Being named in a gang document, hit list or gang-related graffiti.
7. Being identified as a gang member by a reliable source.
8. Being arrested with gang members or associates.
9. Corresponding with gang members, or writing and receiving correspondence about gang activities.
10. Writing about gangs, such as graffiti, on walls, books, paper, etc.
COSTS OF GANGS
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer estimates his department spends at least $6.35 million combating gangs each year. That figure includes salaries for 84 police officers who spend all or most of their time on gangs, but not their police equipment and vehicles.
The teenage boy with the thin neck fidgets as he adjusts to the steel handcuffs locked behind his back.
"Am I going to jail, sir?" 16-year-old Leo Sanchez asks the nearest police officer outside his southwest Fresno home on a cool January night.
Before he gets an answer, officer Ron Hughes asks Leo about his gang, the Parkside Bulldogs.
"Did you get jumped in?" Hughes asks, referring to a gang initiation in which new members are beaten.
The boy's attitude changes. He is no longer polite.
"I don't have to tell you that, sir," Leo says. "You don't have to know."
Hughes doesn't stop there. He wants information. He has heard another Bulldog was jumped in by about 15 gang members. Hughes asks the teen whether that's how many Bulldogs are in Parkside.
"There's way more than that, sir," Leo answers with a flicker of pride.
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Another officer, John Gamez, smirks. "He's trying to say he's got numbers, too." Police have swarmed the predominantly Latino, poverty-stricken community near Roeding Park since November, after detectives documented the gang as a public nuisance and a Superior Court judge made it illegal for its members to be together in public.
It is the second injunction of its kind in Fresno County history, and roughly the 40th since state authorities began using injunctions in the 1980s. The county's first, brought against the Chankla Bulldogs in August 2003, cut in half the crime rate in the Sanger gang's territory. Fresno authorities are hoping to do the same -- or better -- in Parkside.
But many Parkside Bulldogs say the court action is nearly a decade too late.
They say the injunction would have been appropriate in the gang's heyday, but many influential Bulldogs now are in their late 20s and say they've moved on with their lives. Drama swirls around them, but they deny police accusations that they terrorize the neighborhood. They say the injunction violates their civil rights.
Gang investigators describe the Parkside Bulldogs as "urban terrorists." They say it is one of Fresno's oldest street gangs and still recruits youngsters, intimidates residents and breaks laws. They say it will take time for the injunction to make the neighborhood safer.
Since Dec. 10, 22 gang members have been charged with violating the injunction, including two who were arrested Wednesday night. Police are keeping pressure on the Parkside Bulldogs while watching other gangs as future targets.
The tension is obvious in the neighborhood, and it grows each time the Bulldogs and police cross paths.
Outside Leo's house, officer Jose Diaz turns to the boy's uncle, 32-year-old Salvador Huerta.
"Be straight with me," Diaz warns. "Are you a Bulldog?"
"You don't see 'Bulldog' on me," Huerta says as Diaz lifts the man's shirt, looking for gang tattoos. "I don't bang."
Huerta, who police say had drugs on him, is ushered into a patrol car as Diaz persists. He asks Huerta how he could unwittingly live in a known Bulldog house.
"This is my parents' house, and no, it's not a Bulldogs house," says Huerta, who is wearing a Fresno State Bulldogs sweat shirt; it's red, the gang's color.
Diaz has had enough.
"I'm going to validate you [as a gang member] right here and now. So as far as you're concerned, you're a gangster," he says, slamming the car door.
Identifying the gang
County authorities planted the seeds for the Parkside injunction in December 2003. Investigators from the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium, or MAGEC, met with Greg Anderson, the deputy district attorney who orchestrated the Chankla Bulldogs injunction.
They had to choose one gang from the 60 or so in Fresno, where roughly half the 6,000 members claim various Bulldog sects.
Civil injunctions are attractive tools because they eliminate the need for witnesses to crimes -- a giant hurdle when dealing with gangs. Rather than waiting for a crime to be committed, police can arrest gang members on suspicion of contempt of court, a misdemeanor, when they see them together. If convicted, the gang members face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The Parkside Bulldogs, named because the gang's territory surrounds Roeding Park, rose to the top of the list. It has a well-defined turf and a long history of criminal activity, including the murder of two teenage girls in August 1991 -- execution-style killings that became part of local gang lore.
The park, which is home to Chaffee Zoo, also played a role in the decision. Police wanted to make the area safe for park visitors.
http://www.fresnobee.com/home/local/story/10077714p-10904737c.html
New war on an old gang
Armed with an injunction that makes it illegal for gang members to gather in public, police have swarmed a neighborhood near Roeding Park. But the Parkside Bulldogs say the injunction violates their civil rights.
By Tim Eberly / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Sunday, March 6, 2005, 7:04 AM)
Fresno police officer Ron Hughes spots a new gang tag on a fence in the Parkside neighborhood in January. After documenting the Parkside Bulldogs, a gang near Roeding Park, authorities gained an injunction that makes it illegal for members to be together in public.
Darrell Wong / The Fresno Bee
E-mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Format
Receive the Daily Bulletin
Subscribe to Print
Join a Forum
Search News | Search Local
First-generation gang member looks beyond past to the future
GANGS AND POLICE
IDENTIFYING GANG MEMBERS
Police use 10 criteria to validate gang members. Three are needed to be considered a gang member, two to be an "associate" of a gang.
1. Admitting you are a gang member or associated with a gang.
2. Being seen with gang members.
3. Having gang tattoos.
4. Wearing gang clothing, symbols, etc.
5. Being photographed with gang members or using gang hand signs.
6. Being named in a gang document, hit list or gang-related graffiti.
7. Being identified as a gang member by a reliable source.
8. Being arrested with gang members or associates.
9. Corresponding with gang members, or writing and receiving correspondence about gang activities.
10. Writing about gangs, such as graffiti, on walls, books, paper, etc.
COSTS OF GANGS
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer estimates his department spends at least $6.35 million combating gangs each year. That figure includes salaries for 84 police officers who spend all or most of their time on gangs, but not their police equipment and vehicles.
The teenage boy with the thin neck fidgets as he adjusts to the steel handcuffs locked behind his back.
"Am I going to jail, sir?" 16-year-old Leo Sanchez asks the nearest police officer outside his southwest Fresno home on a cool January night.
Before he gets an answer, officer Ron Hughes asks Leo about his gang, the Parkside Bulldogs.
"Did you get jumped in?" Hughes asks, referring to a gang initiation in which new members are beaten.
The boy's attitude changes. He is no longer polite.
"I don't have to tell you that, sir," Leo says. "You don't have to know."
Hughes doesn't stop there. He wants information. He has heard another Bulldog was jumped in by about 15 gang members. Hughes asks the teen whether that's how many Bulldogs are in Parkside.
"There's way more than that, sir," Leo answers with a flicker of pride.
Advertisement
Another officer, John Gamez, smirks. "He's trying to say he's got numbers, too." Police have swarmed the predominantly Latino, poverty-stricken community near Roeding Park since November, after detectives documented the gang as a public nuisance and a Superior Court judge made it illegal for its members to be together in public.
It is the second injunction of its kind in Fresno County history, and roughly the 40th since state authorities began using injunctions in the 1980s. The county's first, brought against the Chankla Bulldogs in August 2003, cut in half the crime rate in the Sanger gang's territory. Fresno authorities are hoping to do the same -- or better -- in Parkside.
But many Parkside Bulldogs say the court action is nearly a decade too late.
They say the injunction would have been appropriate in the gang's heyday, but many influential Bulldogs now are in their late 20s and say they've moved on with their lives. Drama swirls around them, but they deny police accusations that they terrorize the neighborhood. They say the injunction violates their civil rights.
Gang investigators describe the Parkside Bulldogs as "urban terrorists." They say it is one of Fresno's oldest street gangs and still recruits youngsters, intimidates residents and breaks laws. They say it will take time for the injunction to make the neighborhood safer.
Since Dec. 10, 22 gang members have been charged with violating the injunction, including two who were arrested Wednesday night. Police are keeping pressure on the Parkside Bulldogs while watching other gangs as future targets.
The tension is obvious in the neighborhood, and it grows each time the Bulldogs and police cross paths.
Outside Leo's house, officer Jose Diaz turns to the boy's uncle, 32-year-old Salvador Huerta.
"Be straight with me," Diaz warns. "Are you a Bulldog?"
"You don't see 'Bulldog' on me," Huerta says as Diaz lifts the man's shirt, looking for gang tattoos. "I don't bang."
Huerta, who police say had drugs on him, is ushered into a patrol car as Diaz persists. He asks Huerta how he could unwittingly live in a known Bulldog house.
"This is my parents' house, and no, it's not a Bulldogs house," says Huerta, who is wearing a Fresno State Bulldogs sweat shirt; it's red, the gang's color.
Diaz has had enough.
"I'm going to validate you [as a gang member] right here and now. So as far as you're concerned, you're a gangster," he says, slamming the car door.
Identifying the gang
County authorities planted the seeds for the Parkside injunction in December 2003. Investigators from the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium, or MAGEC, met with Greg Anderson, the deputy district attorney who orchestrated the Chankla Bulldogs injunction.
They had to choose one gang from the 60 or so in Fresno, where roughly half the 6,000 members claim various Bulldog sects.
Civil injunctions are attractive tools because they eliminate the need for witnesses to crimes -- a giant hurdle when dealing with gangs. Rather than waiting for a crime to be committed, police can arrest gang members on suspicion of contempt of court, a misdemeanor, when they see them together. If convicted, the gang members face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The Parkside Bulldogs, named because the gang's territory surrounds Roeding Park, rose to the top of the list. It has a well-defined turf and a long history of criminal activity, including the murder of two teenage girls in August 1991 -- execution-style killings that became part of local gang lore.
The park, which is home to Chaffee Zoo, also played a role in the decision. Police wanted to make the area safe for park visitors.