Logan Heights Killings Spur Plea to Curb Crime

The Harborview Community Council has again cried out to the City of San Diego to halt youth violence, particularly gang-related incidents, and to control growing crime in Logan Heights and Southeast San Diego after the shooting deaths of two young men Thursday in Logan Heights.

Miguel A. Contreras, 21, of San Diego and Steven Sandoval, 21, of Lemon Grove were found shot to death Thursday morning outside Memorial Recreation Center on Ocean View Boulevard. Homicide Lt. Paul Ybarrondo said the two had multiple gunshot wounds to their heads and bodies. The San Diego Police Department’s gang unit is investigating.

On Oct. 4, the community council complained by letter to the Police Department of regular drug trafficking and violent crimes in Memorial Park, which includes the recreation center. Memorial Junior High School is adjacent to the park.

Al Ducheny, council chairman, said recent city efforts to curb crime have not proved to him that the city has made a commitment to “expend the substantial resources necessary to bring this problem under control.”

“This is more than just a police problem,” Ducheny said. “The city will not put out the necessary resources to deal with the social and economic problems in our community.

“Our community is entitled to the same safe environment provided to other neighborhoods of this city. Our children should be able to use parks which are free of drugs and violence.”

Ducheny said that the programs the city has provided are not adequate to combat the problems that plague the area, which he said has the highest unemployment rate in the county.

He mainly objects to the San Diego Street Youth Program, which, he charges, is only busy work without adequate discipline. The city spends $250,000 on programs in his area, which he says is not sufficient.

“The programs the city has offered are doomed to failure from the beginning,” he said. “They are just Band-Aid programs. They cannot be effective. We’re talking about programs that will cost millions of dollars . . . that will help train people how to find jobs.”