Novato Police Create Anti-Gang Unit

In response to rising gang activity in Novato, police have embarked on a concentrated program to root out instigators in the city.

The ’s Ad Hoc Street Crimes Unit started Wednesday with a briefing about the current state of crime activity and guidelines about the temporary patrol program before officers took to the streets. Novato, which has 55 sworn police officers following recent budget cuts, is not using any additional personnel on the patrols than normal.

“We’ve looked at our work schedules and availability of our officers and just made some changes,” Captain Jim Berg said. “ …  Primarily they will be going out there to gather as much gang intelligence as possible and make arrests for violations of parole.”

Novato PD officers will work in conjunction with the Marin County Major Crimes Task Force, the Cooperative Probation Enforcement team, county parole officers and San Rafael police to follow leads to solve recent gang-related incidents and try to limit future gang activity, Berg said. Officers will make traffic stops and interrogate known gang members as part of the program.

Recent Novato police incidents linked to gangs include:

*  a July 1 shooting near Elm Drive and George Street in a downtown neighborhood in which bullets flew into nearby homes;

*  a June shooting on Fourth Street that caused $10,000 in damage to the heating and air conditioning unit at the Novato Teen Center;

*  a recent shooting on Leafwood Drive;

*  a recent incident at the Shell station in Ignacio;

*  the January shooting of two men outside the Safeway store in Hamilton that left both men hospitalized.

Berg said handing gang-related incidents is particularly challenging because those involved — and sometimes witnesses — rarely provide information to investigators.

“They feel they can handle it themselves with a retaliatory act,” he said, “and that puts citizens in jeopardy.”

In the past year, Mayor Madeline Kellner and other members of the Novato City Council have heard concerns from residents about graffiti and gang activity. Kellner said the uptick in gang-related calls for service is not going unnoticed.

"We have limited resources with some of the cutbacks we've made, but I know we are very committed — and I know the chief is — to apply the resources we have in a collaborative way, increase safety and send a message that we have zero tolerance for gang activity in Novato,” Kellner said. “We're trying to be proactive and use what resources we have with others to respond to community concerns."

Berg added, “Our department and the city are using resources as best as we can to combat this issue. Any gang crime is too much, and we have to address it before it gets out of control.”

Kreins said the first session of the street crimes unit yielded six arrests. One traffic stop Wednesday at Grant Avenue and Fourth Street resulted in the arrest of a 21-year-old man, Alexander Wallace, on suspicion of vandalism/tagging and possession of 28.5 grams of marijuana. The man had 22 cans of spray paint and multiple markers when he was stopped just after 7 p.m., and Kreins said the man is believed to be a regular tagger around Novato.

On another traffic stop, six members of the West Side Winos gang were arrested after five knives, marijuana and open liquor containers were found in their car. Those arrested were two adults and four juveniles; three of the teens were on probation and two had clauses in their probation restrictions that specifically prohibited gang association. The car was impounded as well.

Kreins said the anti-gang team made traffic/pedestrian stops and foot patrol checks at locations including the on Diablo Avenue, the 1500 block of Center Road, Elm Court, Sutro Avenue and Hutchins Drive.

Although tagging buildings with graffiti is not a violent crime, it is still something the police department would like to abate, Berg said.

“Graffiti vandalism is marking territory, and it’s a quality of life issue for the community,” he said. “It’s not a serious felony on its own, but it breeds the next step. There is a risk to the general public by not addressing it.”

(For a story about recent efforts by the public to reduce graffiti, click ).

Berg said the ad hoc unit is set up for a limited time, but he’d rather not tip off anybody to its duration. “We’ll see how it shakes out,” he said. “If we’re getting good positive results, we may have the ability to extend it.”