Just about everyone in Santa Cruz agrees that something has to be done to counter rising gang violence. They even agree that the SCPD needs help. What they disagree on is who should be helping. Four federal agencies are now partnering with the police to fight the gangs. No one is bothered by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, or the FBI. What does concern many residents is the active role being played by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Just about everyone in Santa Cruz agrees that something has to be done to counter rising gang violence. They even agree that the SCPD needs help. What they disagree on is who should be helping. Four federal agencies are now partnering with the police to fight the gangs. No one is bothered by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, or the FBI. What does concern many residents is the active role being played by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Santa Cruz is officially a sanctuary city, which means that the local government neither condones nor supports immigration raids of any kind. On the other hand, ICE is a federal agency and not subject to these restrictions. While police spokesman Zach Friend has repeatedly stated that ICE has sent its gang unit, and is not involved in immigration issues, this has not allayed the fears of the Latino community.
In the past, O.T. Quintero of Barrios Unidos has called for greater community involvement as a substitute for ICE’s involvement. He now says that the issues of gangs and immigration should be kept separate and that the two deserve different strategies. At a public meeting with the police, many citizens echoed this concern, with some Latino residents of Santa Cruz expressing concern that they will be targeted by ICE agents, regardless of whether they are involved in gangs or not.
SCPD Chief Chief Rick Martinez says, “That’s not the mission at all. This is a gang team.” For a community that already feels targeted, however, that may not be enough.
But not everyone shares the Latino community’s concern. At a meeting last night between local residents and the police department, opinions were generally divided, with most of the arguing going on outside. One resident, Steven Brodsky, said that given the spate of murders and other violent incidents in the city, any measures to reduce crime should be considered.
Playing the peacekeeper, Mayor Mike Rotkin wants to remind people of the Beach Flats sweeps of immigrants in the 1980s, which eventually prompted Santa Cruz to declare itself a sanctuary city. Nevertheless, he also called the current wave of gang violence and violent crime in the city unacceptable, and disagreed with Barridos Unidos’ contention that the problem should be tackled at the “suppression level.” Even if it were, he said, the cash-strapped city will have a hard time finding the resources to fund it. Read more at ABC 7 or Santa Cruz Sentinel.
