1993_10 Insight October 1993

              .
Page 8
DAD BOYS
Insight/California State University, Fresno
October 27,1993
aking a ride on Fresno's wild side
By Erik Loyd	
StaffWriter
At 4:30 pjn. on Oct 9, the swing-
shiftpolKCofTicerswhopatrolFrcsno's
northeast sector arrive at the station at
5555N.RresnoSLfahriefingby Fresno
Police Department Sgt. Neal Manha.
Manha hands out crime bulletins for
arrestable suspects, calls roll and as-
signs specific areas tocheck oul Officers joke and ask questions.
At 4:47 pjn., the white-and-blue
cruisers sun rolling. It will be a little
more than a half hour before Manha i:
ready (o go.
Manha, 38, has been on (he force for
20 years. He became a police officer
three months after he graduated from
Fresrio'sMcLaneHigh.He'stall, wears
acrcwcutandmustac he, and is married
wiih children.
Despite a pop-media backlash
against law enforcement, ihc police are
among the few reliable 24-hour public
servants left in the wake of widespread
budget cuts.
' "Who do people call when they ha ve
a broken water pipe?" Manha asks.
"Who do they call when their kids are
hanging out late?"
The Fresno Police Department receives up to 1350 calls per day with
eight units patrolling five city sectors.
Fresno's population is approaching
500.000, but there are only 443 sworn
officers, 0.9 for every 1,000 citizens.
That's half of the normal police-to-
citizen ratio of other cities.
Since 1981, Manha says, only 60
new officers have been hired in Fresno.
Some were recently hired and more arc
on the way, but not enough to lake up
(he slack.
Manha explains why he thinks crime
is out of control.
"Society is paying for misguided
Ubcralrjrogramsofthe'60sand'70s,"
Manha says. "Everybody in psychiatry
felt counseling would turn these [criminals] around. What we've learned in
the past 20 years is that we've missed
the boat thinking youcouldrc habilitate
a person after 12years old. You can't."
"This is a whole generation (hat
doesn't have the same value systems
you and I had."
While it has been argued Ihat criminals are products of social oppression
CSUF cop car gets crash course
By Eric Alan
StaffWriter
Crash! CSUF patrol car No. 6
came to rest facing oncoming traffic when a southbound motorist
plowed into an officer's vehicle,
hurling it into a spin.
At 10:27 pjn. last Friday.Spe-
cialist Margie Hernandez and Officer Jenny Walzberg waited for a
traffic light when they saw a dark
sedan "fly" out of the University
Deli parking lot and speed down
Barstow Avenue.
"The sedan was blacked out
[no lights]," said Walzberg, who
has been a CSUF officer for more
than a year. "It hit (he street so
hard, it bottomed out and shot
sparks from underneath.
"When we saw that, Margie
turned on the code lights and
looked both ways. I looked both
ways and we started chasing the
sedan through (he red light.
"We weren't even through (he
intersection when I saw the car
coming that slammed into us, spinning us around at least one and a
half times."
The dark sedan got away.
The car that hit the patrol vehicle was occupied by a 74-year-
old man. his wife and a 4-year-
Thls CSUF patrol car was hit during a failed car chase last Friday night, sustaining $2,000 In damages.
old girl. No injuries were sustained, de-        The patrol car, a 1991 Ford Crown
spite Ihe fact that the girl was not wearing Victoria wiih only 41,000 miles, was
aseaibclLNeithcrofthctwoofficcrswcrc the department's "second best car,"
seriously injured; they both worked the said Sgt. Richard Snow. "It was a
ball game the following evening. sergeant's car until only recently."
The car will cost at least $2,000
to repair and will be out of service
for a week or more, said Joe Alanis
of Grcenway Auto Body, where
ihc repair is being done.
andinjusucc.Manha sees them as products of poor role models.
. "These people are victims, they're
predators," he says. That's how they
were brought up. What irritates me is
we don't deal with these kids in their
formative years. We'll never catch up."
A little later, Lt GregColeman lakes
over the ride-along. Coleman, 44, has
been a Fresno cop for 23 years. He
stands tall, well-builtandclean-cuL His
rank entitles him to work any section of
town at any time.
Coleman is a bit more thoughtful
before giving his opinion of lawlessness and says more crimes could be
prevented with more police, but the
justice system needs a shot in (he arm.
"Even if we doubled the size of the
force, it wouldn't be a cure-all,"
Coleman says. "The problem is ihe
whole svstem hasn't grown with the
population. It hasn' t increased with the
ratio of crime."
Like Manha, Coleman thinks the
problem goes very deep into the family
structure.
'Therc'steenadeterioration of family units, attitudes, morals and values,"
Coleman says. "They have no respect
for the rights, property or values of
others. And the generation that is coming up behind them is even worse."
Coleman illustrates his point well.
While speaking with a mother on a call,
herchikl,about5,approached Coleman
and said: "I'm going to get a gun and
shoot you when I'm old enough." The
mother just laughed and said her son
was only kidding.
"Idon'tseeancndinsight,"Coleman
says. "We haven't done anything to
impact the long-term problem."
By 9:18 pjn., traffic is light on
Blackstone. Other than a few domestic
disturbance calls, there are very few
emergency calls in ihecity.It'ssoquiet,
il's eerie—a welcome respite to Ihc
stressed emergency workers.
"Some weekend nights, you can't
even catchyourbreath,"Coleman says.
Coleman meets Officer Bob Quinn
in a shopping complex on the northeast
side of (own. Quinn,40, will be the host
for the rest of the shift, which ends at
SeeWlLDWEST,page7
Crime
Watch
By Amy Hansard	
StaffWriter
Sunday, Oct 17
Day Shift:
•Subject backed into stop sign
in Lot B.
-Subject reported property stolen from his vehicle parked in Lot
Q on Oct 14.
•Two vehicles collided on Oct
13. No injuries.
Monday, Oct 18
Day Shift:
•Vehiclchitbicycle rider. Subject transported to hospital.
•Female subject reported dam -
age to her vehicle as a result of an
unidentified person backed into
her vehicle while parked in LotD.
Swing Shift:
•Female student fell off her
bike and was transported to the
Health Center to treat back pain.
•Male subject reported damage to the lock of his vehicle door
as a result of an unsuccessful burglary attempt
•Vehicle towed for outstanding citations.
Wednesday, Oct 20
Day Shift:
•Investigated a traffic accident
Ihat occurred Oct 15.
Swing Shift:
•Minor traffic accident occurred on Jackson Avenue between Ihe engineering buildings.
•A vehicle caught fire while
parked on Shaw Avenue frontage
road south of the dorms.
•Drunken driving arrest made.
Thursday, Oct 21
Swing Shift:
•Male subject fell off bike and
was injured in the junior varsity
baseball diamond area.
•Vandalism in the Joyal Administration area.
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