SANTA ANA : High-Crime Area Residents Protest

About 300 residents gathered at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on Thursday night to demand that Police Chief Paul Walters provide more protection from gangs and drug traffickers in their neighborhood.

Dozen of residents spoke emotionally about problems in their neighborhood, particularly near the intersection of Bristol Street and McFadden Avenue and at the Townsend Apartment complex on McFadden near Raitt Street.

Walters, who missed half of the one-hour meeting, pledged his department’s commitment to reducing crime in the neighborhood.

Father Enrique Sera, pastor of the church, presented Walters with five cartridge shells that he said he found in the church parking lot.

“There’s a lack of safety for people,” Sera said. “The tragedy of it is that there are a lot of people in those areas who are decent human beings and are being victimized by what’s going on around them.”

Gilberto DeLeon, who has lived in the area for 15 years, said he is tired of being afraid to leave his house at night.

“When I first moved here, it was bad, but not this bad,” DeLeon said. “About six years ago, the drug dealers started coming around and really brought down the neighborhood. Now, if you’re out walking, you get offered drugs. I’m really afraid for my kids.

DeLeon said it would be easy to move from the area, but added that he would rather stay and work to improve it.

“I don’t want to run away,” he said.

Lt. Robert Chavez, who attended the meeting with Walters, said police already are aware of high crime in the area and are working to decrease it. He said the department is doing some restructuring and plans to assign more officers to the high-crime areas.

Chavez said that overcrowding at the Orange County Jail has contributed to the drug problem, because dealers who commit less serious crimes are released earlier.

“It’s not as much of a deterrent because the dealers are back on the street so soon,” Chavez said. “It’s the same problem as in many other areas of California.”

The meeting was sponsored by the Orange County Congregation-Community Organizations, an interfaith group made up of 15 churches that seeks to help families improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods.