Drugs & Propogation of Fear Driving Gangs
Focus at June MVCA Meeting

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Gaye Bishop greeets Shane Jones and Chris Hintz, of Environmental Science Services.	Art Coussoulis, Pres. of the Sacramento Claims Assn, with CSAA, joined Joan Barrett at the June luncheon.	Folks at the June 2006 luncheon listen in as Captain Bricker details gang violence in the valley.	Bricker used a slide show depicting various gangs, known members, and tendencies.

Manteca PD Captain Dave Bricker provides overview of California gang profiles at June meeting. By Bryan Harrison Dave Bricker has seen a lot more of the dark side in his many years as a police officer than most will in a lifetime. Bricker, who spent some seven years as a Narcotics Officer, now heads up what little “task force” the Manteca PD has to offer in his effort to combat gang violence. He spoke at the June 23, 2006 luncheon of the Mid-Valley Claims Association with a focus on the growing problems presented by gang activity and violence, offering up profiles of various known gangs. Northern California, especially in the valley, has seen a swelling of various gangs in recent years. He explained that, while Stockton has actually experienced a drop in the number of incidents involving gangs in the recent past, violence has grown in other areas, including Manteca. He sited Stockton’s success as due in large part to their funding of a specific drug and gang task force. A luxury a small force like Manteca’s has not been able to put in place. His talk focused largely on identifying various groups. There is value in documenting gang members, he stated, as legal penalties become much more severe once an individual as been directly linked to a gang. For instance, he said, the penalty for a first offense of “assault with a deadly weapon” is a maximum jail time of three years. That same first offense for a documented gang member is a minimum of 36 years! When asked his view on the legalization of drugs, Bricker flatly stated that “it won’t work”. Though, he emphatically qualified that by expressing that he is “completely in favor of medical marijuana”. That, he stated, is a whole separate issue. In the valley, a large share of gang activity, and the growth thereof, can be directly linked to methamphetamine. A highly addictive drug, and one that can be cheaply produced, Meth/Crank presents a multitude of problems for this society. Thanks to ALL Our June Door Prize Contributors Guardian Environmental Appraisals by Don EFI Global FRSTeam Taylor Renovation and Construction Hertz Enterprise Rent a Car MVCA

Barbara Hall, of Marine Claims Service, at the June meeting. MVCA President, Don Wood, continued in his focus on community awareness with the June speaker.

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