Residents organize to fight crime

SELMA ? Between the gang members trespassing through their complex, the graffiti that's been scrawled on the walls of their apartments and vandalism to their vehicles, residents in the Nebraska Apartments complex say they're afraid. They're afraid to be outside after dark. They're afraid to call the police for help and afraid of retaliation by known gang members.

"Everything's occurring at night," Nebraska Apartments Manager Elizabeth Silva said. "We've had gas tanks poked, windows broken. They've been breaking into cars. I've been vandalized, too, with my cars."

Earlier news reports show ongoing gang activity in the area that has even lead to killings. In 2010, a Bulldog gang member was shot near Thompson and Nebraska avenues. Another shooting in 2012 took place that Selma police officials described as involving gang members.

In 2015, a 14-year-old Selma boy was killed. In that same year, a 17-year-old was arrested after shooting a 31-year-old man in the area. Earlier in 2017, a 30-year-old man was shot while riding his bicycle on Nebraska Avenue.

Silva said she's tired of being afraid. For her own children, and for the sake of the dozens of children who reside there, Silva is taking steps to take back her neighborhood.

"I live here and my kids live here," Silva said. "I want this to be a better place for the kids to enjoy."

Silva's teamed up with Selma resident Rosemary Alanis, who has spearheaded the effort to organize Neighborhood Watches throughout Selma.

A first Neighborhood Watch meeting was held May 23 at the complex. For this first session, names and phone numbers of residents eager to start a phone tree were taken and questions and concerns were heard so that city officials could start problem-solving.

City Councilmen Scott Robertson and Jim Avalos, City Manager Dave Elias, Tri County Health Care District board member Rose Robertson, several police officers and other Neighborhood Watch captains showed up to listen and offer support and advice.

Councilman Robertson encouraged residents to not be afraid to call, as they have a right to be safe at home.

"This is where you live and what you've worked hard for, so don't be afraid," he said. "We're here to help, so call us, we'll be here. That's why we're out here tonight. But it's up to you to give us a call and be our eyes and our ears. Help us help you."

Selma resident Marianela De Leon translated for the dozens of residents who aired their concerns over multiple security issues. They want more security lights, cameras and fencing installed to keep gang members who no longer reside there out.

While most of these issues will be addressed by the property managers, Alanis says in the meantime, residents can organize now to be the eyes and ears of the local police. But first, they have to overcome their fear of getting involved, she said.

"They're afraid of retaliation from the gang element in the neighborhood," she said. "[Silva]'s already evicted two families, and that made a difference, but they have friends coming over the gate. She shoos them away, but it's only her."

Silva's been the Nebraska Apartments manager for the past three years and grew up in the complex. She said she lived there before gang activity skyrocketed.

"I grew up here during the 1990s. It wasn't too bad like it is right now," she said. "It's calmed down, and now that I'm manager, I'm trying to help out my tenants."

Silva walks the complex throughout the day, but the criminal activity is taking place at night. There are 108 units at the complex and Silva also manages 40 houses throughout Selma as well. She can't see everything and be everywhere at once, so she knows she needs help gathering evidence.

"From my window, all I can see is the office and the playground," she said. "I'm willing to be captain, but I can't see gang activity from back there to all the way over there unless [the residents] let me know."

Some of the residents have spoken up to her when they've seen trespassers drinking alcohol out of soda cans, hopping fences and even cutting fencing to enter the property.

Selma Police Officer Andres Bibian came to the Neighborhood Watch meeting and said crime is nothing new in the area.

"I've been out here a lot," he said. "There are a lot of calls for shots fired and gang members hanging around the area and around the vicinity of this complex."

Officer Bibian let the residents know they can remain anonymous when they report criminal activity but that they should stay safe when they're noting information regarding suspects and their vehicles before they call in.

"They can have their Neighborhood Watch representative call and be anonymous. They don't have to give their name, but the more they call, it'll get us out here more."

Bibian told residents that the more the complex builds a sense of community and is proactive in reporting crime, the better the police department can do its job.

"I'm one officer and they're hundreds of people. They're my eyes. I don't know what's going on unless they tell me what's going on or I see it myself with my two eyes," he said. "I don't want them getting into any altercations with anybody, but if they give us information, then we can build something with that."

Bibian said the idea of being more proactive seemed to sink in once they realized they can remain anonymous.

"That's why I'm glad they had this meeting, because they brought it up themselves," he said. "If I look out for you and you look out for me and that's exactly what Neighborhood Watch is. They're going to watch out for each other and be our eyes."

While she hopes these efforts will weed gang members out in the short term, Silva's brainstorming ideas to help the younger children at the complex avoid gangs in the long run. Boys and Girls Club Unit Director Mark Armenta attended that first meeting and said that with financial help from the Selma Police Officer's Association, membership would be offered for the residents' children at reduced rates.

"We help them with homework, have field trips, free lunch and inspire the children to become better people," he told the parents. "So the kids aren't running around. They can come and have fun at the Salazar Center."

Alanis said after the meeting that she hopes the residents will be persistent in their efforts to have a Neighborhood Watch since it took about six months of calling and the police driving through her Almond Street neighborhood to change the atmosphere.

"Everybody came from young teenagers to the elderly. Everybody is concerned and wants a better place here," she said. "Eventually, I hope they're able to walk in the neighborhood and feel safe. They don't feel that now."