Public Safety At Risk In Manteca

By Benjamin Joseph Cantu

The level of public safety declined signifcantly following the mayor and council approved 12-position layoff in the Manteca police department.

Unfortunately, the community is not aware that since July 1, a mere month ago, Manteca has experienced over seven gang related shootings and one related death. I do not believe that the community is aware that the police department's gang response unit was cut to one or two officers (from five), that police resources officers assigned to schools were reduced to three (due in part to contributing funding cuts by the school district), that the number of police units on streets patrol has been severely cut. Moreover, that gang intelligence gathering is essentially non-existent and that the police department is down to a bare bones force of fifty-five personnel (down from over seventy). I am not presenting a potential doomsday scenario; on the contrary, these are the facts today because of the municipal budget cuts.

Gangs in our community fall into three areas, young homegrown wannabes, the gang members that have moved here with their families and the gang members passing through the area. In my opinion, the proper response to the gang problem should have been sustained resources that focus on the youth that are vulnerable to gang participation, continued support of the gang response unit and intelligence gathering, and sustained support of the heightened streets patrol units. I firmly believe that sustaining public safety involves the mentoring of youth, obtaining intelligence, prolonged surveillance, and diligent patrol.

One can debate the merits of the many issues confronting our community today and their priority, however in my opinion public safety should be at the top of the list, especially when the residents approved a one-cent sales tax increase for that purpose.