‘96 Begins With Less of a Bang, Police Say

After a massive campaign to deter people from firing guns into the air on New Year’s Eve, the number of reports of shots fired declined this holiday, a police spokesman said Wednesday.

Santa Ana police received 125 calls this New Year’s Eve, traditionally the busiest night of the year, compared to 209 last year, Sgt. Bob Clark said.

On Christmas Eve, they received 126 calls about celebratory gunfire compared to 76 last year, when, however, it was raining.

No one was injured by gunshots this holiday, but 11 people were arrested over Christmas and New Year’s eves, up from five the year before.

The 11 were booked on suspicion of brandishing a deadly weapon or negligent discharge of a firearm.

Clark attributed this year’s improved statistics to a number of factors, including coverage of the issue in Spanish-language and other newspapers and an open letter to the Mexican American community from the local Mexican consul criticizing the practice.

Celebratory gunfire, while widespread throughout Orange and other counties, is mostly a custom in Latino neighborhoods and hits Santa Ana especially hard.

Sixteen extra police officers were deployed on Christmas and New Year’s eves.

Police also distributed 5,000 fliers in Spanish, English and Vietnamese warning of the dangers of the gunfire.

“The ultimate goal would be to eliminate it altogether,” Clark said. “I don’t think that’s realistic, but I think we’ll realize more success as long as we keep pounding away at it.”

Clark said police had no estimate of property damage yet, although that number has reached into the thousands in past years.