Santa Ana : Illegal Aliens Involved in Majority of Homicides

More than half the homicides that occur in Santa Ana involve illegal aliens as either victims or suspects, according to statistics released Monday by the Santa Ana Police Benevolent Assn.

Ninety-three of the 168 homicides committed between January, 1981, and Sept. 15 of this year involved undocumented aliens, according to an article in the new issue of Reliable Source, the police association’s bimonthly newsletter.

The statistics came from internal, quarterly crime reports released by a source in the department’s nine-member Crimes Against Persons investigative unit, said Don Blankenship, president of the Police Benevolent Assn.

A closer look at the figures shows that illegal aliens are more often the victims than the perpetrators of violent crime, Deputy Police Chief Eugene B. Hansen said.

Of 38 homicides in Santa Ana in 1984, 23 involved illegal aliens. In 22 of those cases, the victims were illegal aliens. Ten of the suspects in those 23 cases were illegal aliens. Half, or 16, of the homicides in 1985 involved victims who were undocumented. Seven were cases in which the suspects were illegal aliens, Hansen said.

The numbers aren’t very dramatic “when you consider the fact that over 50% of our population now is Hispanic,” Hansen said. “We have an undeclared population of 50,000 to 70,000 above our census population of 225,000.”

In publishing the figures, the police association hopes to point out a need for more police officers and “not to slam illegal aliens by any means,” Blankenship said. “We have not (taken) and will not take a position on illegal aliens. But when illegal aliens are involved in crimes, then we have to say something. . . .”