Cops Storm Street--Bearing Gifts

More than a year after the largest gang sweep in Orange County history, police officers were back in force in a small west Santa Ana neighborhood Saturday.

But this time, they were giving away T-shirts and backpacks.

Hundreds of neighborhood residents attended a street fair organized by the Santa Ana Police Department.

Jackson Street, notorious for drive-by shootings and drug dealing in the past, was filled Saturday with baby strollers, taco stands and a stage where a Spanish-language radio station gave gifts to the children.

“Who wants a backpack?” the announcer said over the speakers. Dozens of tiny hands rose around him while others clutched T-shirts that had just been handed out.

To qualify for the giveaways, he asked, “Bring me the left shoe from your mom or dad.” Sandals and boots tossed by helpful parents ensconced in grandstands opposite the stage rained on the children.

It was a welcome scene for Xavier Duran, who said he once was more accustomed to hails of bullets.

“Before, you couldn’t even walk on this street,” said Duran, 29, who with his family has lived in the Santa Anita neighborhood for four years.

Duran and other residents at the fair said the stepped-up police presence over the last year has helped them feel safer.

“The officers spend a lot more time in the neighborhood,” said Lupe Lopez, 27. “The criminals are not as bold anymore.”

Saturday’s event marked the culmination of a two-year federally funded crime prevention program dubbed Operation Orion. The multiphase project was launched last year with the arrests of dozens of suspected drug and weapons dealers during a massive sweep in the neighborhood bounded by McFadden Avenue, Harbor Boulevard, 17th Street and the Santa Ana River.

Since then, the Police Department has stepped up patrols and arrested 180 more gang members. At the same time, it organized meetings with residents, sponsored street cleanups and took children on field trips. Such efforts were aimed at creating better relations between the residents and the police officers, officials said.

“Our goal was to turn the neighborhoods back over to the people who live there,” said Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters, who attended the fair along with a dozen of his officers. “Law enforcement isn’t a beginning or the end; our goal was to empower the community.”

Crime has dropped modestly since the March 2000 sweep. Comparing six-month periods before and after the raid, robberies in the area were down from 12 to nine, assaults with deadly weapons dropped from nine to eight, and the number of vehicle thefts decreased significantly, from 42 to 25.

Officials at the fair did not have statistics for drug-related crimes, but Police Lt. Bill Tegeler said the numbers have remained about the same.

“We know we’re not going to turn it around overnight,” said Tegeler, who headed Operation Orion. “The police are good at arresting people, but ultimately it is the community that is going to change itself.”

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Times staff writer Matthew Ebnet contributed to this story.