Pubdate: Wed, 26 Nov 2003
Source: Tri-Valley Herald (CA)
Copyright: 2003 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.trivalleyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/742
Author: Suzanne Zalev, Amy Yarbrough

DRUG WAR LEADS TO NEW TURF SHOOTINGS

Since Aug. 1, there have been 50 shootings in East Palo Alto

EAST PALO ALTO -- The city's police may have indirectly caused a recent 
increase in gun violence.

Because the police have cracked down on drug dealing, Police Chief Wes 
Bowling said, they may have diminished the territory where dealers can sell 
dope, creating a "little war."

"It was a little surprising to us that this would occur," Bowling said 
Thursday. "We didn't think that this would happen as a result of what we 
were doing. We've created another small monster by cracking down on one 
type of crime."

Since Aug. 1, there have been about 50 shootings in East Palo Alto, Bowling 
said -- instances in which weapons were fired, but not necessarily in which 
people were shot. There were about six shootings just in the last week, he 
said. Normally, there would be three or four a month.

About 18 people have been shot in East Palo Alto since Aug. 1, according to 
news releases. Bowling did not have numbers immediately available.

The most recent shooting victim was a 15-year-old East Palo Alto boy, who 
was shot in the 2300 block of University Avenue around 1 p.m. Wednesday. 
San Mateo County Sheriff's Sgt. Tom Gallagher said the teen told police he 
was walking down the street when a gold sedan pulled up next to him and 
someone fired several shots.

The boy was struck at least five times in the lower back and legs, but his 
injuries are not considered life-threatening. Investigators believe it was 
gang-related, although several stray rounds struck a nearby construction 
trailer, Gallagher said.

But while shootings are up, homicides in the one-time national murder 
capital are not. There have been seven so far this year, Bowling said, and 
that's "right on par for what we normally see."

Councilwoman Pat Foster lives in the neighborhood where many shootings have 
occurred -- there was one around the corner on Sunday -- and she said she 
hasn't seen anything like this since 1989.

"I lie in bed and I hear the gunshots," she said.

Bowling said there have been a lot of drug-related robberies, and some 
shootings into houses. that are reopened once these people hit the 
streets,* he said.

To combat the problem and determine the cause, the city is putting more 
officers on the street and working with other law enforcement agencies, 
such as state parole officers and the Sheriff's Department, City Manager 
Alvin James said. The sheriff is helping provide more law enforcement, 
James said, and the city has spoken to adjacent Menlo Park about providing 
assistance.

"At this point in time, we're trying to get all the best minds in law 
enforcement together, share information and see if anyone can construct an 
overall picture of what's happening," James said.

The city has also scheduled a community meeting for next week to discuss 
the situation, James said. It will begin at 6 p.m. at the Creative 
Montessori Learning Center, 1421 Bay Road.

Foster said she thinks the problem could be solved by investing in young 
people. There are too many kids dropping out of school, she said, and that 
leads to unemployment, and the unemployed youth, looking for something to 
do, are selling drugs.

"It's a matter of putting the resources into the youth," Foster said. "It's 
much cheaper to do it right the first time than to have to put it in 
afterwards."

Prisons are expensive, she said, and the inmates aren't rehabilitated.

Bowling and James said the police are trying to prevent the situation from 
getting worse.

"We're trying to get out ahead of the curve. We don't want this to look 
like it did a decade ago," Bowling said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens