Mayor Offers Ideas to Curb Southeast Crime

After several nights of knocking on doors in Southeast San Diego to encourage residents to fight back against crime, Mayor Maureen O’Connor has issued several recommendations that she hopes will curb the increase in drive-by shootings and other gang- and drug-related offenses.

The mayor, in a memo to City Manager John Lockwood, is calling for the relocation of the Southeast police storefront or, in its place, the creation of a new police satellite station in that community’s high-crime area.

She is also recommending improvements in the police hot line and increased street lighting at corners known to be frequented at night by hostile gang members.

Lockwood said Friday that he is reviewing the suggestions. He said he will discuss the recommendations with the Police Department and report back to the mayor next week.

‘Interesting Recommendations’

“I will be discussing this with several people,” the city manager said. “The mayor has some rather interesting recommendations here and we’re always happy to look at new changes.”

The mayor’s suggestions come at a time when the area continues to experience a sharp increase in crime.

The San Diego Assn. of Governments reported this week that the county’s crime rate jumped 5% during the first nine months of this year and that homicides were up 35%. Police attribute the increase in crime to gang and drug activity, as well as the proliferation of firearms.

A demonstration was held earlier this month in Southeast San Diego to protest the rising number of drive-by shootings. Following the march, O’Connor and Councilman Wes Pratt promised to stand on street corners and knock on residents’ doors in an effort to show criminals that the community will not turn over control of the neighborhoods to the gangs.

Since then, they have made two night outings. Wearing bulletproof vests and accompanied by police, they have talked to community residents about crime in Southeast.

“From my observations, it was clear that a serious problem exists and that there are possible steps that the city might take,” O’Connor said.

She said the police storefront at Euclid Avenue and Federal Boulevard is poorly placed because “it is so distantly located from the problem areas . . . that it compounds the difficulty of response by officers.”

“It is worth looking into relocating the substation or augmenting it with a high-visibility, 24-hour satellite,” the mayor said.

But Deputy Chief Kenneth Fortier said the storefront, located in the Euclid Avenue shopping mall, is used primarily for community purposes and not to facilitate police response times. He said almost all reported crimes in Southeast are handled by officers assigned to the Southeastern Patrol Station at 7222 Skyline Drive, which is in a high-crime area.

“The storefront is staffed by one police officer,” Fortier said. “If you’re a victim of a petty crime, we’ll take a report there. But if it’s anything major at all, we’ll have to call for a field officer to handle it.”

The mayor’s memo also questioned the success of the police hot line, 235-TIPS. She indicated that some residents said they are afraid to call the number because they fear that their names will not be kept anonymous.

“The residents are terrified of being labeled as snitches,” she said.

But Officer Matt Weathersby, a police community relations specialist, said the confidentiality of police informants has never been violated.