Santa Ana Streets Feel Much Safer

SANTA ANA — Six homicides.

A few years ago, that total would have been considered a bad month in this city. But in 1997, with gang violence ebbing and overall crime down, it’s the tally for the entire year to date.

By comparison, there were 15 homicides in the first five months of 1996, down steeply from the 31 slayings for the period a year earlier and the 33 in 1994.

If this year’s pace holds, there may be fewer than 15 killings come January. Compare that with the tally of 78 slayings in the city’s bloodiest year, 1993, when gang violence seemed unstoppable.

“At that time, it didn’t seem that things were headed in this direction,” admits Santa Ana Capt. Dan McCoy, the leader of department’s investigative units. “To be honest, at that time this type of improvement might not have sounded realistic.”

McCoy and others within the department cite aggressive anti-gang programs and their cooperative efforts with community groups as linchpin causes for the death toll decline. But McCoy also says other contributing factors may be as diverse as the economy, social changes, even the weather.

“There are multiple causes,” he said, adding wryly, “Whatever we’re doing, we’d better keep doing it though.”

In recent years, the street gang scene in Santa Ana has changed drastically, McCoy said. The “traditional” gangs that carved up the city and staked out turf as their ranks swelled in earlier decades gave way to smaller, more numerous gangs.

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Unlike their predecessors, many members of these new gangs often don’t live in the same neighborhood, he said. More mobile and less identifiable, they present a different challenge to police, McCoy said. And more gangs translate to more rivalries and violence, he said.

Police responded by pooling efforts with schools, probation officers, prosecutors and social service agencies under high-profile programs such as the Street Terrorist Offender Project (STOP).

The concerted efforts were designed to close the cracks in the system that offenders can slip through and also concentrate efforts to identify the most active members of the most active gangs, police said.

The anti-gang efforts work hand-in-hand with community policing efforts, Capt. Bruce Carlson said. He said building ties with citizen groups and reaching out to communities has not only reduced crime statistically, it has improved quality of life.

“We’ve seen numbers going down for a while now, but people were telling me that they didn’t feel any better about their neighborhoods,” Carlson said. “Now perceptions seem to be catching up. People are saying they feel safer.”

That view was shared by Priscilla Holmberg, a longtime Cypress Avenue resident who was skeptical in past years of police claims of less crime.

“There’s been a big change,” she said of her neighbors in the southeast Santa Ana neighborhood. “We really feel a lot more secure. There’s a world of difference.”

McCoy said that while he is not a superstitious person, he was reluctant to predict whether the trend would hold. “I hope so. One murder is too many, but the decrease is a welcome sight.”

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The six homicides so far this year include four killings being investigated as gang-related crimes. The half-dozen victims were all male and five were Santa Ana residents killed by gunfire:

* Joshua Troy Massengill, a 1 1/2-year-old Garden Grove boy, was molested and tortured before his body was left at a Santa Ana convalescent home. A 32-year-old man dating the boy’s mother was later arrested and charged.

* Ricardo Hernandez, 19, was shot to death about 10:20 p.m. on Feb. 24, and his body was found by officers responding to a call of shots fired. Labeled a gang member by police, he apparently died in a street confrontation. A suspect is in custody.

* Joseph H. Muniz, 22, was shot and wounded about 6:45 p.m. on April 11 on West St. Gertrude Street, apparently being chased by a gang rival. He made it home but died in a carport. No arrest has been made, but investigators have leads, according to Lt. Hugh Mooney.

* Alvaro Contreras, 25, was shot to death about 2:40 a.m. on April 24 in the 1100 block of South Birch Street. He was killed as he got out of his car after arriving home from work. The motive for the shooting remains a mystery and no arrest has been made.

* Julio Cesar Rodriguez, 21, was shot to death about 7 a.m. on May 17 while washing his car in front of his apartment on South Minnie Street. A gunman in a passing car shouted a gang name before opening fire. No arrest has been made.

* Ramon Osorio, 21, was shot to death about 3 p.m. on May 9 and might have exchanged fire with his killer in the 600 block of Daisy Avenue. A suspect is in custody in the apparent gang crime.

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Fewer Slayings

Santa Ana officials attribute the decrease in homicides to their anti-gang unit and stepped-up neighborhood policing. City homicides Jan. 1 to May 30:

1993: 28

1994: 33

1995: 31

1996: 15

1997: 6

Source: Santa Ana Police Department

Researched by GEOFF BOUCHER / Los Angeles Times