SANTA ANA : Budget Plan Beefs Up Police to Fight Gangs

Citing a commitment to battle gang activity in Santa Ana, City Manager David N. Ream unveiled a $218-million budget Monday that emphasized hiring more police to patrol the city’s neighborhoods.

“We see gang prevention as one of the top priorities in the city,” Ream said.

Under the budget, the Police Department would add six investigators to its narcotics unit and four to its gang unit. Another five non-sworn officers would be added to the department so that officers can spend more time patrolling the city, Ream said.

The 10 investigators will be selected from within the department’s current 351-member roster. The city will hire 15 more people to fill the vacancies, Ream said. The Police Department’s proposed $43.8-million budget is up 8.4% from last year.

Ream is also recommending that the council increase funding for Pride, a city parks and recreation program designed to prevent children from joining gangs. The program funding would increase from $66,000 to more than $110,000 under the proposed budget, allowing the program to be expanded to six more schools.

Mayor Daniel H. Young said the emphasis on gangs in the budget reflects the city’s concern with crime.

“We’ve seen gangs become more violent,” Young said. “We want to beef up our gang unit and add patrol officers to have a chilling effect on these gangs.”

But Councilman Richards L. Norton says the city should hire even more officers. Norton says he went on a police ride-along May 6 to observe the Police Department’s weekend gang sweeps. During his ride-along, Norton says, he and a police officer had to guard a body for two hours until homicide investigators were able to arrive at the scene.

“It’s not enough still,” Norton said. “This is all political rhetoric. The fact is we don’t have enough men and women on the streets.”

The proposed budget also emphasizes the city’s efforts to clean up its neighborhoods. In a five-year plan to improve everything from trees to traffic signals, Ream is recommending that the city spend $34.8 million on capital improvement projects during the next fiscal year.