Looking Into Vietnamese Gangs

Ever since the first wave of Vietnamese refugees began arriving in Orange County 10 years ago there have been rumors and allegations that local Vietnamese gangs prey on the refugee community through robbery and extortion.

Friends of the slain Cal State Fullerton professor, Edward Lee Cooperman, have taken the issue a step further, questioning whether Vietnamese gangs are also responsible for political murders. As a result, several prominent community leaders have written to the Orange County Grand Jury asking for an investigation of local Vietnamese gang activity.

Although a 21-year-old Vietnamese student and friend of Cooperman was convicted in March of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Cooperman, the prosecution offered no motive, and some of Cooperman’s friends believe that the death was a political assassination. But they provided no evidence during the trial to support that belief.

There is no doubt that Vietnamese gangs are operating in Orange County. Police who work mainly in the refugee community say that they see street gangs and also groups of thugs who specialize mainly in robberies, often invading refugees’ homes.

They also say that the extortion of Vietnamese businessmen by the gangs has lessened, and that refugees, now more familiar with the American criminal-justice system, are becoming less fearful of reporting crimes to police.

But when it comes to organized crime and political killings, local police say, they have no indication that any of the gangs operate at the direction of some central organization. Some Orange County police officers have testified to that in Washington hearings concerning Vietnamese gang activity.

We don’t know how effective the county Grand Jury could be in uncovering the extent of gang activity in the Vietnamese community. But the panel does have broad investigative powers, and we think that it should respond to the request. A Grand Jury probe might help uncover organized Vietnamese gangsterism or finally put rumors of its existence to rest. In either case it would be worth the effort.