InfoAnda - Cops attack homegrown gang in Calif heartland

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Pakistan kills wanted Taliban commander | 6 July 2010
Chinese hackers infiltrate five energy firms: study | | 10 February 2011
Tropical storm kills 8 in Philippines; 11 missing | 25 June 2009

US tops lists of nations accepting Bhutanese refugees | 17 August 2011

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Cops attack homegrown gang in Calif heartland

Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail More Yahoo! Services Account Options New User? Sign Up Sign In Help Yahoo! Search web search Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Africa Europe Latin America Middle East North America Cops attack homegrown gang in Calif heartland By TRACIE CONE,Associated Press Writer - 2 hours 54 minutes ago Send IM Story Print FRESNO, Calif. – This is Bulldog Country, or so the bumper stickers say. But whether that identifies the home of scrappy Fresno State athletics or the deadly turf of a criminal enterprise labeled the most entrenched gang in America depends on the success of a police surge now entering its fourth year. Its goal: To take away the Bulldog gang's homefield advantage in California's agricultural heartland, to break its embrace of a new generation. The pending trial of two members of the violent gang illustrates its insidious recruiting process: A 7-year-old boy was forcibly tattooed with the gang's emblem, a Bulldog paw, authorities say. "I felt so... angry," said Det. Jesse Ruelas, describing the case in which Enrique Gonzalez is said to have held down his son while fellow gang member Travis Gorman allegedly applied the tattoo. "Why would you permanently disfigure your child?" After a pause, the detective added, "Then I felt sad, like the police and the system had let him down and allowed him to be hurt." These days, police and the system are forcefully asserting themselves, but it's going to take time to determine the future of Bulldog Country. Here amid the alfalfa fields and almond orchards, where Fresno State University has provided many families their first access to a higher education, the gang's co-opting of the Bulldog brand has had strange and violent effects. Students in some local schools are banned from coming to class in sportswear showing off the college's snarling red mascot. A young woman jogging in a Bulldog T-shirt 100 miles from Fresno narrowly escaped a hail of bullets fired by a rival gang. A man was shot to death last summer after innocently greeting a gang member with this perceived insult: "What's up, dog?" Ruelas, the detective, recalled back in high school two decades ago making the connection between the mascot and the gang when he saw some female classmates from a notorious gang neighborhood wearing Fresno State jerseys. "I thought to myself, 'What's up? I know those girls aren't going to college.'" In an impoverished region with high dropout rates and few job options outside of agriculture, gang affiliation becomes an easy avenue for self-esteem among the undereducated. And while other U.S. cities fight Crips and Bloods, Nortenos and Surenos, Fresno's homegrown gang has developed a vicious reputation that has kept other gangs at bay. The Bulldogs are described by authorities as the nation's largest independent street gang. Police estimate there are about 12,000 members in this city of 500,000. For most of their 20-year existence, the Bulldogs escaped serious law enforcement scrutiny, even as they taunted cops with barks and howls. Police looked upon them mainly as wayward youth. But the gang that grew out of fights at San Quentin prison over respect eventually showed itself to be a deadly criminal enterprise. The 2006 shooting of a cop became a tipping point. Now police are trying to bulldoze the Bulldogs, before the next generation takes over. The Fresno police are engaged in year four of tactical warfare against the gang, sweeping through neighborhoods and making more than 12,000 arrests, including many juveniles, and even going after petty offenses such as loitering by seeking injunctions. It's called "Operation Bulldog." In other cities, such police pressure might have killed the beast. But with the loosely organized Bulldogs, many are independent operators who will turn on one another over territory. "When you have structure," Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer says, "you can cut the head off the snake and it dies. You can't do that with the Bulldogs." Although gang activity declined across America between 2001 and 2006, gang membership in Fresno County grew by 33 percent, studies show. "We found that 10 percent of the people in our city were committing 50 percent of the crime," Dyer said. "If you're talking about robbery, that increases to 80 percent." In July 2006, a motorcycle officer was critically wounded during a traffic stop by a gun-toting Bulldog, Joaquin Maltos Figueroa, 25, who was shot to death days later by police. In Maltos Figueroa's car, officers found a magazine of bullets and a scanner tuned to police frequencies. They realized gang members were more sophisticated than they previously had believed. That same summer, 16-year-old Courtney Rice, a prostitute whom gang members feared was snitching, was raped, tortured and murdered by seven Bulldogs and associates. In November 2006, Chief Dyer went on TV announcing a 10-person "Operation Bulldog" tactical unit to make gang members' lives miserable. This January, he added 100 more officers to focus on intelligence gathering on the 10 percent who are most active and promised to seek longer, federal sentences when possible. "We know the war on gangs can never be won," the chief said, "but we also know it can be lost." Today, easily half of those incarcerated in the county jail on any given day are Bulldogs. "The chief's directive is to arrest as many Bulldogs as we can," said Sgt. Alex Robles. "He doesn't want us to let up the pressure." Four days a week for 10-hour shifts, Robles and his team swarm Bulldog territory, the scruffy neighborhoods on the city's east side. Armed with lists of names supplied by parole agents, they make unannounced visits. Parolees have no right to privacy, and the officers take advantage, searching homes for drugs and alcohol _ even inspecting cell phones for gang photos or insignias. If life is made unpleasant, police figure they will either leave gang life or move away. "I don't know if we'll ever get rid of them" says Robles. "I know the goal is to get rid of them." In the first three years of Operation Bulldog records show that violent crime has decreased in Fresno by 14.3 percent, ahead of the 9 percent state average, and police attribute the statistic to pressure on gangs. Rape is down 43.5 percent, and there were 26.3 percent fewer vehicles stolen. After recording 314 shootings in 2006; in 2008 there were 226 and 231 in 2009. "Still, it is too many, but it's a far cry from 314," Dyer says. "At least we don't have them standing on the corners barking anymore. Our goal is to take away their neighborhoods." The figures do not capture the uptick in shootings since July 2009, when the History Channel's Gangland series featured the Bulldogs and egos swelled, prompting a summer police sweep that netted 200 arrests and dozens of confiscated weapons. On one sweep officers arrested Naomi Copple, 27, on parole from Chowchilla State Prison for Women, because her parole agent said she tested dirty for drugs. As they searched her house, she sat on the curb, hands cuffed behind her back. With a shaved head, she could not hide the two dog paw tattoos over her right eyebrow, or the 5150 _ police code for crazy person _ inked on the back of her neck. About the tats on her forehead: "It's just some stupid s--- I did a long time ago. I was a kid." Police see it differently. "It's like a billboard on their face saying 'Hey, stop me,'" Robles said. On Thanksgiving Eve, a year-long police investigation netted Christopher Chavez, 26, the suspect in the 1999 murder of a transvestite, his two brothers and a 16-year-old. Awaiting trial, Chavez is accused of being the shot-caller of a small Bulldog "cell." He wore a bulletproof vest and carried automatic weapons, police said. At the arrest scene, police reported finding 50 marijuana plants in a toddler's bedroom. "You always feel bad for the kids," said Detective Tony Gates. "We always say they have no chance." Investigators eavesdropping on conversations learned that Chavez, who joined the Bulldogs as a young teen, sold methamphetamine to his own mother, a street dealer, and used juveniles to move drugs and guns. The electronic surveillance reaffirmed the importance of tattoos. "One of the juveniles had a gang tattoo on his body, and it subjected him to being involved in more crime," said Gates. "Chris Chavez told him, 'You have to back that up.' As investigators, we knew it, but it was surprising to hear it." Children in Bulldog neighborhoods live amid prostitutes and parolees, surrounded by crime and violence, unemployment and poverty. The gang offers security, a sense of identity and, for many, a livelihood. In the worst Bulldog neighborhoods, drug dealers wear the nicest clothes and drive the newest cars. "The middle class and upper class think about and do things to plan for the future," says C. Ronald Huff, a University of California-Irvine criminologist who studies gangs. "People who don't have those things are more fatalistic because they don't believe they have a future. Parents don't imagine anything will be different for their children." The police gang unit has confiscated photographs of infants posed in Fresno State Bulldog onesies, cuddling semiautomatic handguns instead of bottles. A survey of Fresno County school officials in 2007 found gang affiliations begin as early as kindergarten. And a school survey this fall showed the Bulldog gang with a steady source of new recruits: Fresno County 8th graders were almost twice as likely to join gangs if their fathers were involved. "We're seeing third generation Bulldogs now, and it's not stopping," said Robles. "It's sad that these parents don't want something better for their children." Whether Enrique Gonzalez is the kind of parent Robles describes will be decided in court; a hearing is set for Feb. 11. The Fresno County district attorney has charged Gonzalez and his friend, Travis Gorman, with mayhem _ plus gang enhancements _ for tattooing Gonzalez' 7-year-old son's hip with a dog's paw. If convicted, they could serve two decades or more behind bars. Police say the boy was an unwilling participant, held down and marked against his will. Gonzalez' estranged wife discovered the tattoo and took her son to police. Defense attorney Douglas Foster said the tattooing was only a case of poor judgment, not a crime. He denied it was forced, saying the boy made that claim only because he was intimidated by police and upset by his angry mother. According to the lawyer, friends who were there said the child begged for a tattoo. They quoted him as saying, "Daddy, I want to be like you." Recommend Send IM Story Print Related Articles World's tallest tower lookout suddenly shuttered AP - 26 minutes ago NASA fuels space shuttle 2nd time, clouds back AP - 41 minutes ago Costa Rica elects Chinchilla first woman president Reuters - 1 hour 28 minutes ago Daily pill helped cure osteoporosis in mice, rats Reuters - 1 hour 31 minutes ago Yanukovych declares victory in Ukrainian vote AP - 1 hour 33 minutes ago News Search Top Stories Saints go marching in with Super Bowl win over Colts Geithner confident investors will stick by US bonds Poor weather delays US shuttle launch Britain's Mandelson attacks EU on banking reform US shuttle Endeavour launch delayed More Top Stories » ADVERTISEMENT Most Popular Most Viewed Most Recommended G7 preoccupied with eurozone debt, China 'bubble' JPMorgan's chief reaps 16-million-dollar bonus Jackson doctor to be charged Monday: prosecutors Geithner confident investors will stick by US bonds Mixed report shows US loses 20,000 jobs, unemployment dips More Most Viewed » Fury heats up after new AIG bonuses More Most Recommended » Elsewhere on Yahoo! Financial news on Yahoo! Finance Stars and latest movies Best travel destinations More on Yahoo! News Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Subscribe to our news feeds Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS » More news feeds | What are news feeds? Also on Yahoo Answers Groups Mail Messenger Mobile Travel Finance Movies Sports Games » All Yahoo! Services Site Highlights Singapore Full Coverage Most Popular Asia Entertainment Photos Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Community | Intellectual Property Rights Policy | Help

Other News on Monday, 8 February 2010
Actor in Israel's Oscar nominated movie detained
Geithner confident investors will stick by US bonds
Lebanon recovers crashed Ethiopian jet's black box
Taliban, NATO prepare for big Helmand offensive |
Afghan assault to send 'strong signal': McChrystal
Iran tests radar-evading aircraft says commander |
Iraq delays parliament debate on candidates row
Ukraine Tymoshenko's team cries foul before polls close |
Israeli forces arrest two foreigners in West Bank
Afghan leader eyes return to conscript army
Iran leader orders new step in nuclear program
NATO chief seeks broader ties with China, India
An engineering marvel takes shape near Hoover Dam
Fifth victim identified in fatal RI fire
Officials: Some die in Conn. power plant explosion
Battle to electrify Kandahar shows Afghan dilemma
Researchers target whales in herring loss study
Hundreds flee south Afghan town ahead of offensive
Gibbons to deliver emergency State of State
Pakistanis doubt Taliban chiefs in Baluchistan
Al-Qaeda threat to US greater than Iran: Clinton
Afghanistan's NATO head: Military push needs gov't
US faces `serious and significant' cyberthreats
China 'jails porn website operator for 13 years'
Obama adviser: Stop criticizing anti-terror effort
Pakistani military seizes Taliban stronghold in NW
Authorities: 2 planes collide in Colorado; 3 die
India flight delayed after tip alleges terror
Obama adviser confident in Super Bowl security
Sri Lanka army denies plan to arrest former chief
Television executive shot to death in Nepal
Toyota loses some luster in hometown over recalls
Avatar loses box office crown to Dear John |
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
"Avatar" dethroned at box office by "Dear John"
'Dear John' bumps 'Avatar' with $32.4M debut
Rihanna's celebrates, BEPs party late
Florez and his 9 high C's return to Met Opera
All eyes on Ellen in "American Idol" judge debut
Iraq MPs to meet over 'Saddam' candidates row
ETA seeking to move bomb-making to Portugal: Madrid
China shuts down largest hacker training website
Opposition's Yanukovich claims win in Ukraine poll |
Saints go marching in with Super Bowl win over Colts
Defiant Iran set to begin higher enrichment of uranium
French police evacuate migrants' shelter
China seizes more melamine-tainted milk powder |
PayPal temporarily suspends some India services
Yanukovich set to win Ukraine presidency: exit polls
Iran ratchets up atom work despite sanctions threat
US faces 'serious' cyberspace threats: advisor
Haiti protesters denounce aid corruption, hoarding |
Israeli forces detain pro-Palestinian activists
Internet down in Iran ahead of demos
Argentine ex-Pres Kirchner has emergency surgery |
Iran leader orders new step in nuclear program
Iran plans 10 new enrichment plants in 2010/11 |
Envoys go to North Korea for nuclear talks push |
Costa Rica elects Chinchilla first woman president |
High-profile U.S. case tests Haitian justice system |
Iran tests radar-evading aircraft
NASA fuels space shuttle 2nd time, clouds back
NKorea threatens South amid push to restart talks
CIT names ex-Merrill CEO Thain as chairman, CEO
Activists want fair trial in Japan whaling case
China finds 170 more tons of tainted milk powder
CAPITAL CULTURE: First lady tackling child obesity
IBM begins Power server upgrade to battle HP, Sun |
Taiwan firm on China ties after US arms deal
Cops attack homegrown gang in Calif heartland
NetEase suspends new user registration for hit game |
Obama hasn't ruled out NY trial for 9/11 planner
Cowboy theme at American base in Afghanistan
China shuts down largest hacker training website |
NY Gov. Paterson meets with lawmakers over future
Amazon reshelves Macmillan titles but not e-books |
Obama in Super Bowl health care gambit
Singapore rite looks painful, yet smiles abound
Malaysia: Anwar wants sodomy trial judge removed
'Historic' snow strands countless in Mid-Atlantic
Weather forecast for the Asia-Pacific region
AP NewsAlert
2,000 hit by Papua cholera outbreak: WHO
Eight Vietnamese reported drowned
Kirin, Suntory scrap plans to combine
Pakistan stocks up; volume low after Friday bombs
Disgraced Lee returns to Olympics fold
JAL to stay with American Airlines: reports
PAKISTAN
Japan's Kirin terminates merger talks with Suntory
Seoul shares close lower on banks, Kumho issues
S.Korea KDIC to offer shares in Korea Life via IPO
Taiwan dollar rebounds sharply
S.Korea bonds steady ahead of auctions
South Africans celebrate Mandela, worry about future
Townshend, Daltrey are still The Who at Super Bowl
NBC considers lifting Emmys tape delay
Daughtry brings Saints, Colts fans together
The Who perform hits medley at Super Bowl halftime |
"Valentine's Day" a date to forget
Cockfighting survives Haiti's earthquake devastation
France vaunts '40 virtues' of Armagnac
Private schools sprout in Zimbabwe as public system struggles
'Dear John' dethrones box office king 'Avatar'
Valentine's Day a date to forget |
Iran plans major nuclear expansion over next year |
Riding green wave, Philips says "let there be LED"
NetEase suspends new user registration for hit game
Iran plans major nuclear expansion over next year
U.S. and EU fear fresh government crackdown in Iran |
Iran's leader vows to thwart protests this week
Yemen's al Qaeda calls for jihad in region: report |
Israeli police raid Palestinian refugee camp |
Saudi rights commission seeks divorce for child bride
Fifteen Indian soldiers killed in Kashmir avalanche |
Iran launches production lines for unmanned planes
Taliban defiant as Afghans flee ahead of assault
China patents surge in 2009 as U.S. filings plunge |
Iran plans 10 new enrichment plants in 2010/11
UK Afghan death toll matches Falklands loss |
Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader to hit stores |
US shuttle Endeavour blasts off for space station
Disney, Google eye stake in China bus media firm |
Bomb hits trucks carrying Thai soldiers; 7 wounded
Failed job seekers add to homeless problem in ND
Taiwan court extends ex-leader's custody
Charlie and Brooke Sheen due in court Monday
Tainted milk powder still on sale in China: report
Internet prompts the publishing itch in over-60s |
China bus with 43 aboard plunges down valley: report
Riding green wave, Philips says let there be LED |
Body found in airplane wheel well at Tokyo airport
5 men, 1 woman aboard shuttle Endeavour
Vodafone Enterprise signs 4-year Oracle deal |
Sri Lanka journalists hold anti-government protest
Obama's Monday filled with meetings
Intel Israel exports jump 145 pct, seeks grant for expansion |
US shuttle Endeavour reaches orbit
11 soldiers dead, 50 trapped in Kashmir avalanche
NKorea threatens South amid push to restart talks
Official: About 5 unaccounted for after CT blast
Thailand tightens security ahead of Thaksin ruling
Doctor finally looks at charge in Jackson death
LA-area cleans up from storms, new round coming
Senior Afghan official accused of militant links
Chinese police shut down hacker training business
Taiwan exports surge 76 percent in January
Sumitomo Mitsui triples nine-month profit
India sees 7.2 percent growth as economy recovers
Ex-NFL star Sapp released from Fla. jail on bond
Hyundai boss made to pay fine over losses to firm
Gary Coleman scheduled for Utah court appearance
The black magic of Massive Attack's new album
Google warns Chinese copycat website: report
Charlie and Brooke Sheen due in court
Berlin film fest looks back at 60 years of scandal
Toyota faces fresh questions over recall response
Pakistan's Soneri Bank says eyes RBS Pakistan
Hollywood names up for Olivier theatre awards |
The Who perform hits medley at Super Bowl halftime
Bleak outlook for Iraq's lonely hearts
UAE hospital offers treatment that's for the birds
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01