Allegations of Crime Softened : Van de Kamp Takes Blame for ‘Overblown’ Remark

Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp and aides admitted Wednesday that a statement he made earlier this month about “crime ‘families” moving into Palm Springs was based on old information and was somewhat misleading.

In a speech to a group of prosecutors on July 9, Van de Kamp said: “Crime families from New York and Chicago have bought into Palm Springs restaurants. And all the New York families--especially the Genovese group--are increasingly involved in narcotics trafficking there.”

“That line, though it sticks out by itself, was not intended to say that there’s been that much change there,” Van de Kamp said Wednesday. “I think this thing got way overblown . . . because of the placement in the speech, and we are partly to blame for that.”

Both Fred Register, who wrote the speech Van de Kamp gave at a prosecutors’ convention in Santa Cruz, and William Sanderson, chief of the attorney general’s Organized Crime and Criminal Intelligence Unit, said statistics cited in the speech were up to three years old.

‘True ... Not New’

“I have to apologize for that,” Sanderson said. “It’s a true statement, but that’s not new.”

Dan Brown, executive vice president of the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce, said legitimate business owners in Palm Springs were offended by Van de Kamp’s remarks and called on the attorney general to apologize to the community.

Van de Kamp said he called Palm Springs Police Chief Tom Kendra after the speech and said the statements were misleading. Kendra was out of town this week at a law enforcement convention, a secretary said.

Sanderson said there is no new organized crime activity in the desert resort and added that mob affiliation can mean that a relative of a crime family member may work at a restaurant or business or sit on its board of directors.

“But that’s a problem that’s been going on for 15 years. That’s nothing new,” he said.

Misinterpretation Claimed

Brown disputed that statement, saying people should not be suspected just because they are relatives of crime figures.

Van de Kamp, Register and Sanderson said the statement was misinterpreted by reporters because it kicked off the speech, which Van de Kamp made to seek support for legislation to legalize wiretaps by state and local police and tighten controls on the laundering of crime money through legitimate businesses.

“I think the context in which I put it may have been misleading,” Register said, adding that the speech covered a variety of topics.

Van de Kamp and his aides emphasized, however, that organized crime remains a problem and is growing because a new generation of criminal groups from Vietnam, Israel, Central America and Japan are trafficking drugs throughout the state after being pressured out of Florida and the Southeast.