(NAME-MCE) In L.A., race kills

[Anselmo Villanueva]

L.A. County Sheriff: Black-Latino Tensions, Not Gangs, Are Fueling Violence

Los Angeles Times

June 12, 2008

According to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, "Latino gang members
shoot blacks not because they're members of a rival gang but because
of their skin color. Likewise, black gang members shoot Latinos
because they are brown."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-baca12-2008jun12,0,5498039.story

In L.A., race kills

Black-Latino tensions, not gangs, are at the heart of the county's
violence, Sheriff Baca says.
By Lee Baca
June 12, 2008

Conversations about race are fraught with emotion, confusion and
controversy. But that doesn't mean we should avoid or sidestep the
issue.

As a Latino raised in East Los Angeles, and as the elected sheriff of
Los Angeles County for the last decade, I have seen many sides of the
race issue. I have lived it, in fact.

So let me be very clear about one thing: We have a serious interracial
violence problem in this county involving blacks and Latinos.

Some people deny it. They say that race is not a factor in L.A.'s gang
crisis; the problem, they say, is not one of blacks versus Latinos and
Latinos versus blacks but merely one of gang members killing other
gang members (and yes, they acknowledge, sometimes the gangs are
race-based).

But they're wrong. The truth is that, in many cases, race is at the
heart of the problem. Latino gang members shoot blacks not because
they're members of a rival gang but because of their skin color.
Likewise, black gang members shoot Latinos because they are brown.

Just look at the facts. In February 2006, our jail system erupted into
a full-scale riot involving about 2,000 black and Latino inmates at
the North County Correctional Facility at Pitchess Detention Center in
Castaic. One black inmate died and numerous others were injured.
Through extensive interviews with participants, our investigation
revealed that race -- not gang affiliation -- was the motivating
factor.

Furthermore, we have evidence linking inmates who are known as "shot
callers" directly to street shootings based entirely on race. These
shot callers at Pitchess and elsewhere are affiliated with gangs, to
be sure, and in many cases they may give the order to kill a
particular person or a member of a particular gang. But if that person
or gang cannot be found, the shot caller will often order the gunman
to find someone -- anyone -- who is black or brown and shoot them
instead. Gang affiliation does not matter. Only the color of the
victim's skin matters.

I would even take this a step further and suggest that some of L.A.'s
so-called gangs are really no more than loose-knit bands of blacks or
Latinos roaming the streets looking for people of the other color to
shoot. Our gang investigators have learned this through interviews in
Compton and elsewhere throughout the county. L.A.'s gang wars have
long been complicated by drugs, territory issues or money. Now, it can
also be over color.

Race-based violence has even found its way into our school system,
although no deaths have been reported. Some say it's always been
there, but it certainly is rearing its ugly head now more than ever.
Most recently, fighting broke out in May between more than 600 black
and brown students at Locke High School in South L.A.

The racial divide is being driven by the ongoing population growth and
demographic changes that have buffeted L.A. for decades. The
perception that one group has more opportunities and advantages than
another can lead to resentment, competition and, ultimately,
spontaneous eruptions of violence.

So where does this leave us? How does this information help?

I have begun a process in my headquarters in which analysts are poring
over data collected from various sources throughout the county to help
us understand exactly what gang crimes are underway -- and where -- in
real time. I call it a Gang Emergency Operations Center.

It's about more than just identifying problem areas and moving more
police there. In fact, it is not a suppression model at all, but an
intervention and prevention model aimed at ensuring that those who
need social services get them. Most important, it will serve as a
fusion center for sharing information. Such centers -- like the
federal Joint Regional Intelligence Center, which combats terrorism --
have more than proved their worth.

But as we gather this data, the race issue must be part of the
equation -- because if it isn't, we are not analyzing the data
correctly. Crimes with a racial component must be categorized and
studied to help us better understand the problem. Racial issues must
then be addressed through education and awareness.

The problem of interracial violence is not intractable; we've made
progress in other settings. I have seen it on a small scale in the
Sheriff's Department's Domestic Violence Prevention Program in our
jails.

It happened like this. Inmates with a history of domestic violence --
sometimes known members of opposing gangs -- were forced to attend
this program or be remanded to custody for a significant amount of
state prison time. Those who agreed to participate would sit together
and discuss various topics of interest. They would eat meals together
and live together in housing set aside for them.

The program was designed to address issues of domestic violence. But
over a period of weeks, the participants overcame barriers by being
exposed to those they were supposed to hate. They began to form
friendships -- friendships that, in some cases, have lasted outside
the jail walls.

This may seem like an insignificant occurrence to those who are
uninformed about gang life and racial tension. But it is not. People
who would shoot each other as easily as kick a can were taking meals
together, talking together and living together without violence.

The better we understand the crisis, the better chance we have of
solving it. It is difficult to believe that something as simple as
gathering information, analyzing it and then putting it into action --
whether through suppression, intervention or prevention -- will have
any effect. But it will. It is a proven formula.

The unification of information, dispassionately collected and
analyzed, will lead us toward a disarming of the gang culture. And
through disarmament, we will make the streets safer. And that's the
whole point.

Lee Baca has been sheriff of Los Angeles County since 1998.