Last Updated on July 19, 2023 by BVN
Prince James Story
Last month, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) released its 2022 Crime in California report.
The report noted that the number of violent crimes per 100,000 people increased by 6.1% from 466.2 in 2021 to 494.6 in 2022. Across the state, the number of homicide victims decreased by 6.6%.
San Bernardino County had 186 homicides per 100,000 people in 2022, second to Los Angeles County with 739 homicides per 100,000 people.
In October 2022, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department allocated additional funding to focus on cutting crime in the region. The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved funding for “Operation Consequences,” a county-wide violent crime suppression operation.
The primary focus of the operation is criminal street gangs and getting “ghost guns” off the street.
Ghost guns are manufactured at home. They are considered “ghost guns” when a person doesn’t contact the DOJ to have the serial number applied to a weapon created in this manner. When these unidentified weapons are sold or traded on the black market, they are essentially, untraceable, according to Sergeant Robert Arrieta with San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Gangs and Narcotics Division.
The California crime report revealed a 7% drop in the number of crimes committed with guns without serial numbers reported statewide, the first decrease recorded since 2013.
To date, Operation Consequences seized a total of 498 handguns — 129 of which were ghost handguns. They seized 284 rifles, 54 of which were ghost rifles.
Operation Consequences also focuses on the selling of illegal narcotics and human trafficking.
“It’s important to note the human trafficking arrests are [focused on] the pimps. The men and/or women who are out there gaining from the sex trade, taking advantage of males and females, and forcing them to commit sexual activity for some type of financial or other gain,” Arrieta said.
The operation has made 29 arrests in human trafficking and rescued 25 people from human trafficking rings.
Operation Consequences has also seized 2,040 pounds of illegal substances, including 1,815 pounds of methamphetamines and 192 pounds of fentanyl.
In 2021, San Bernardino had 354 opioid related overdose deaths, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Community-centered solutions
Community leaders and organizations also call for solutions to the increase in crime but urge community-focused methods that don’t lead to the over-policing of marginalized communities.
“Any increase in crime is significant, must be taken seriously, and demands that we employ serious responses,” said Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice, in a statement sent to Black Voice News.
“This can’t be about politics, but rather ensuring we pursue the most effective strategies for preventing violence and harm and keeping our communities safe.”
Hollins stated that the numbers reported in 2022 are an indictment of the effects COVID-19 had on many people across the state, because people were displaced during the pandemic and were out of work.
She urged policymakers not to go back to things that have proven not to work, like the over-policing of marginalized communities, but to move forward with healthy policies that are going to help communities.
Hollins stressed the need for more community-based violence intervention programs, like a mentorship program where people who have been impacted by the system or gang violence and have changed their lives can mentor young people. With this type of intervention program, mentors can intervene when issues happen in the communities and can work to prevent violence and help with conflict resolution.
“We need immediate and targeted investments in community-based initiatives and programs that are best equipped to work with our most vulnerable populations. We need to prioritize proven solutions like violence intervention, assertive outreach, re-entry services, youth employment and mentoring programming, community-based victim support and trauma recovery centers,” said Hollins.
Overall, Hollins highlighted that the 2022 data is something that people may have expected, but the goal is to lower those rates and create communities where people feel safe.
“Everyone is safer when people have access to employment, when people can feed and take care of their families when they have a roof over their head, and when they get the support that they need when we are experiencing a problem before it becomes a crisis,” said Hollins.