Police, Gangs and Crime in Delhi

Police, Gangs and Crime in Delhi
(A Neighborhood of Santa Ana, California)
Report by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan

A) Delhi, a Marginalized and Oppressed Community:

Delhi is a lower-socio-economic neighborhood which has a bad reputation of being unsafe. This area of Santa Ana, has an extremely high murder rate, and likely is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country. The residents are afraid of gangs as well as of police, being oppressed by both. The community is angry at the police, and the list of grievances is very long. The quality of life is greatly lacking because of the prevalence of crime, police stalking, being unable to move freely, and gang rivalries. Opportunities of recreation are curtailed because of police surveillance in parks and even at funerals.

The discussion by the focus group indicates that safety and health are major concerns, including the common risk of getting shot or murdered. One of the respondents who is a college student, reported getting shot. A number of respondents personally know someone who got murdered within blocks of their homes. Some of the precautions taken by people in the community are to carry a gun, avoid going outside at night, not going out alone, and staying in the backyard, instead of being in the front yard.

Most or all of the people in the Delhi focus group seem to be of Latinx background. Four out of the twelve respondents didn’t say anything noteworthy about police, gangs or crime.  Seven respondents mentioned 90 crimes in addition to 49 references to gangs, totaling 139 references, which indicate a lack of safety and security. Thus there is a lot of fear in the community, which is exacerbated by police brutality.

B) Police (Brutality, Harassment and Discrimination):

Though the respondents mention police and cops 56 times, yet in 90% of those references, law enforcement is viewed as oppressive. Police are reported to be stalking, surveilling and harassing the community, even at funerals. Collective punishment is doled out, as the whole neighborhood is treated like suspects, as if all of them are criminals or gang members. People are searched and questioned on the streets, in the parks and inside their homes. Police can stop anyone, walking or driving anywhere, often without reason. When a police officer beats a person, he threatens to arrest witnesses if they get involved.  Police bullies, provokes, aggravates and escalates a situation. It seems like there is no safe place to escape the oppression of police. A person can get arrested for being in their own front yard, for going to the store or just for playing in the park.

Police assume anyone with jeans and a shaved head is a gang member. D-M1 who is a college student said, “I left this guy’s house, they [police] pulled me over, pulled me on the street, I mean for what? Just because I have a shaved head? You can’t just judge a book by it’s cover you know. Would they be doing this stuff in other communities, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa? I doubt it. You know, it’s just if you’re Latino, you fit the description, ‘Boom, let’s pull you over’”.  D-M1 also said about police, “There’s maybe one or two cops that are cool.  For the majority, the gang unit, forget it, man.  Those guys are evil.  Satan. They’ll just like, they’ll try to find anything on you, they’ll invent things, they say you look like some guy [known criminal]”.

In addition to being afraid of gangs, DW3 stated, “the police because like I said, they come into your home, or they stalk you, and take off theire guns in front of the babies you know.  They make you drag your babies out of bed.  They’ve done that.  They’ve harassed my dad you know.  They come for one thing, fine, even though they know that guy’s in prison or whatever.  Fine, they want to make-believe they’re doing their little job but then they harass your parents, you know, or something. They’ve done that you know in my case, you know.  My dad has gotten harassed, you know, and they don’t, then we try to tell ‘em are you here you know, for this, you know and that’s when they shut you up or you know tell you, we’ll take you to jail right now”.
            Police cause fear plus anger, as their presence means they will harass the community. D-M3 agreed that police harass young as well as old people, “They actually don’t care”, he said. D-M1 added, “I’ve seen them harass old people too.  You know.  It just doesn’t really matter”. Residents don’t have the freedom to have a party at their home, as the police require a permit for it.

            D-M2 stated, “There’s too much discrimination right here with the cops.  Cause like, you get fined if you’re playing, right there and, a handball game or something, and finally one of them passes by, they turn on his lights, go on his bike, and just everybody right there, and if there’s an open container everybody has to leave the park.  Everybody, it don’t matter, even if you’re playing, you have to leave the park. Yeah, and like they start taking someone in.  Couple, they start making everyone leave the park or they’ll get arrested. Too much discrimation in here”.

            About getting pulled over by police, D-W6 said, “It does happen a lot. It happens. Several times”. Getting stopped is prevalent, as D-W2 stated about the police, “a lot of time they don’t stop you, a lot of times they’ll take you in still, and you know, for no reason”. D-M1 added, “Plus they release you in another neighborhood.  You know, and if you don’t got a car you don’t got a ride home. You’re going to walk from Civic Center, you’re walking through F-Troop [rival gang], you're walking through Alley Boys [rival gang territory], you’re walking through all the streets that they want to kill us.  It’s natural that they’ll [police] do that.  They’ll [police] even tell you to your face, ‘hey you know all this information I took down about you?  I go to all the other neighborhoods [rival gangs] and give it to them.’  I had a cop actually tell me that. He goes yeah, ‘We take this to the other neighborhoods [rival gangs] so they know who you are, so they can smoke you.  Makes our jobs easier’”.

C) Crime:

Seven respondents mentioned 90 crimes in addition to 49 references to gangs, totaling 139 references. Their stories indicate this is a dangerous and unsafe area, where even the lives of children are at risk. Residents are afraid of rampant crime. For example, D-M4 said, “like burglary, robbery, homicide”. D-W3 stated, “I’m worried about the fact that they come drive-by [shootings]...Yes, I mean, they don’t care who’s out there you know, now even the babies are getting killed inside the house”.  D-W2 stated, “According to what I read in the paper everyday, even if you say you don’t belong to anything [gang] they still shoot you. So, [I’m] very concerned about my grandson”.

DM1 said, “People cannot be held hostage in your own home.  You should be free to be able to leave whenever we want without always having to worry that someone is going to break into your house.  So, that’s what I find, as far as crime, child molesters, [and] you got these junkies who are just breaking into houses and just stealing everything, you know, robbing, especially the elderly people”.  D-M3 adds, “The molesters, too, going around. We’ve been having a lot of that lately”. D-M1 said he saw a child molester near a school, “Right here, there’s a man on Goat Street.  They passed out a flyer [about him]. I just didn’t see it until our last neighborhood association meeting.  This guy has 288 convictions against children and he lives right here on Goat Street”.

For Delhi residents, it’s not safe to go out at night. They avoid going out alone, and go to the backyard instead of the front yard. Respondents have personally been the victim of a crime, or know someone close who has, including getting shot and robbed.

D)  Gangs:

Seven respondents mentioned gangs 49 times, plus 90 references to crime. Gang violence is prevalent in Delhi and the surrounding neighborhoods of Santa Ana. There are drive-by shootings where even children get shot. D-M1 said, “It just got really, really bad. People, I mean, well shoot, just maybe three years ago in the 90’s, awe man there were, like what, 182 killings [in Santa Ana]. I mean here, in just this varrio alone, man, in a matter of six months there were five people murdered, there was (name), (name), there was (name), what’s his name, (name)...We’re talking 6-7 murders in a 4 or 5 block area, you know. And talking about 3 months.  Plus, there was um, who got shot?  I got shot, ---- got shot, ---- (name) shot there.  I mean there was about 9 people who were shot”.  DM1 later stated “Now [in] the city of Santa Ana, you got, oooo, shoot, maybe 95 gangs”.

 D-W2 recalls how her grandson got jumped by three guys in a truck. They stole his gold necklace, and he got so scared that he stopped going to school. She stated, “I have a 15 year old and I’m also worried about him. When he goes any place. He hardly walks, the only place he walks is over here to the store. From there to the store, maybe to the little park.  But, even being at the park, I still worry. So I’m always calling my daughter, you know, where’s (name)?  You know, and she said well, he went to the park and he’ll be back in a couple of hours.  I’ll call back and see if Freddie’s home. You know I do worry.  But he doesn’t belong to a gang or nothing.  We don’t let him go out late”.

In rivalries, gangs mark their territory with graffiti and tagging, which can get a person killed. Responders reported that they don’t go to other neighborhoods which could be territory of other gangs.  People know many gangs by name, indicating their widespread presence, including Lopers, Delhi, Alley Boys, F-Troop, Dog Town, OBC, Varrio Orange, Small Town, Skin Heads, Arian, Asian Boys. There are also “Party Crews”, which are essentially larger gangs, like TFK, OTH and, RSP. The “gang unit”, of the police is seen as another gang.

E) Us versus Them:

The community seems to be under pressure from many sides. The point of view of Delhi  respondents can be classified into two basic world views. It’s a debate of “us versus them”.
  - Who is us?                                     versus                                     Who is them?
            - Elder folks                                                                - Younger people

- People who have lived here for many years             - New residents moving in
            - Home owners                                                            - Renters

- Gang in Delhi know us, we know them                   - Other gangs are the enemy
            - People living in the Delhi Neighborhood                 - Police

- Citizens / Born in the U.S.                                        - Immigrants

- Culture of American born Latinx                             - Culture of Latinx of other countries

F) Demographics of Delhi:

Females in group = 8
            Males in group     = 4
            Total                     = 12

G) Tables for Delhi:

                                    Table (i)

Themes	Total in document	Total from respondents
Gangs / Party Crews	73	49
Police / Cop / Patrol	68	56
Crime Total    (Types of Crime are in table below)	102	90

                                                            Table (ii)

Type of Crime	Total in document	Total from respondents
Murder / Kill / Homicide	34	33
Shooting	34	32
Robbery / Burglary	13	13
Assault / Beating	7	5
General Crime	10	3
Graffiti	4	4
Total Crime	102	90

                                                Table (iii)

Respondent	Police/Patrol	Crime	Gangs
D-W1
D-W2	13	4	4
D-W3	3	2	1
D-W4
D-W5
D-W6	1		1
D-W7
D-W8	6	1
D-M1	30	80	41
D-M2	1
D-M3	2		2
D-M4		3
Total	56	90	49

H) Recommendations and Improvements:

            To improve conditions, the respondents suggested job training, GED preparation and classes for teen mothers. The residents are looking forward to a community center which is expected to become a hub of resources, meetings, activities, and a place for people to work out their problems together. Activism of residents, is being encouraged by an organization called Community Leaders in Collaboration.  They are addressing community concerns and want the police to get to know them and be respectful. D-M1 said, “Until we become familiar with one another we’ll just walk by people like if we’re ghosts, you know, we didn’t see them”.
            To make improvements,  D-W2 said, “Well, we’re trying to get it together working on that for the community... All these meetings that we’re having lately.  We’re trying to get involved and get more people involved into the community. If we had more jobs for kids, they wouldn’t be on the streets. Because [when] they go and try to get a job, they don’t want them.  They say you no good, you don’t have any experience, nothing”. D-M4 added, “They’d be busy working and getting money and they wouldn’t be stealing”. Thus suggesting that more jobs can reduce crimes.