Teen Dead After Cabrillo Boulevard Stabbing

Are we going to need to take the law into our own hands to get this gang menace to stop?

Well said 3domfighter, and YES WE ARE!!

It's obvious that are city leaders don't have the balls to come out and really nip this issue in the bud!

Some of my friends are S.B.P.D., and they say that they wish their hands weren't so tied as well!

Folks, this isn't South Central Los Angeles. If it was,(are you little wannabes listening!!??)they wouldn't last five minutes!!

Is it going to take an innocent person dying before
Mayor Blum and the City Council truly WAKE UP??

All I can say is. WATCH OUT you little vermin!! You might pull a knife on me!! And then, your going to see what self defense REALLY looks like!!

put the gang bangers on the fire line and let them show us how tough they are.

I 2nd farwestgoleta!!!!! Let them fight the fires!!! They might learn how to become good men instead of whimps & a threat to society!
If the gang incidents begin to impact the SB tourist industry then perhaps something might get done?????

They should start by forcibly sterilizing all convicted felons. Murderers, rapists and yes, even Enron CEOs.

The mayor is worthless, she always has been and always will be. The police try their best but are constantly shot down by her and the rest of the city council when told what they need. They all have their head in the sand and push for more homeless outreach programs insted of helping the police actually fight crime. Now which council member will call the police department when they arrest someone for this murder to make sure the suspect's rights are not being violated? Grant House maybe?

Tstk, tsk, such vitriole. I understand everyone's frustration, but there are no references to gangs anywhere in the article. It may or may not turn out that way, but you hotheads are getting ahead of yourselves.

Again another person with their head in the sand (eastbeach) Yes "Normal" non-gang people go around stabbing each other just because, get over yourself and go back to being a sheep. Everyone knows that some of the biggest gang fights happen at the fireworks during the 4th, has for years. Stop being ignorant and wake up and look around you.

Ok lets all pretend it has nothing to do with gangs and be TOLERANT and not rush to judge our sweet Green Mayor or City Council while our children die in the streets in public. OMG what alternate reality do you live in? What drugs are you taking that keep you from seeing the truth and reality of this? It's not proven to be gang related so it is "OK" as the Mayor would say. You're ok but I'm not ok. I'm sick of it. Time for a new Mayor, City Council and Police Chief people - These ones have had over a year to address this and all they can come up with is "reaching out" and more programs to entertain "at-risk" youth, instead of targeting "beyond-hope" youth. It's past time for more jails, 287(g) ICE cooperation and its past time for keeping parolees in jail or at least monitoring their activities. How many more liberal progressive approaches do we need before it is obvious they don't work? It's tough love time, and well beyond coddle-and-serve the youth time and blaming ourselves for their choices.

We were down there last night and saw the ambulances arrive and my teenaged son says "stupid gangmembers messing around I bet." During the course of the night, my son and I only saw 2 other officers down there! However, this is not the fault of the police, this is the fault of these stupid teenagers! Where are the parents? Maybe there needs to be a law that anyone under 18 MUST have their parent with them if they are out after dark. If they are found out, the parents get a ticket. There could be a higher fine for children under 16... that sure would get parents to become more accountable for their little thugs, don't you think?

The Mayor is much loved but she has been in her post for a long time and as a native of SB, I strongly feel that her and the rest of the city leaders care far more about tourism than they do about the residents here. Lol, I remember when the pier burnt last time and the KEYT news folks were covering it and I was crying because I was thinking about how my Dad used to take me out there for fishing and to get ice cream ... Debbie Davidson made a statement about how it could impact tourism and I was so disgusted. It was at that moment that I realized that tourism really has been the most important thing to our city leaders. Yes, it brings in much needed income but at the same time, the residents should be more important!

I wonder how many of the folks commenting here, actually live in the super-densely populated portions of either the Eastside or Westside where these teenage gang members come from.

I do. And what I see is the disgracefully dilapidated properties of landlords who charge outrageous rents to residents who they know full well don't have the means to pay unless they either a) work multiple jobs and thus can't supervise their kids properly, b) badly overcrowd the property, or c) supplement their family income with crime.

The rents here are killing people. Literally.

Also, I don't know what the person above means by the cops' "hands are tied." In a neighborhood this densely populated, you do not discharge a firearm lightly.

I do think, however, that some cops have an inappropriate sense of resignation about East/West gang crime. When my house was broken into, the cop didn't bother getting out of his car (even though there were prints clearly visible on the wall).

An acquaintance of mine is a SB city cop, and he says most of the officers live in Ventura. I can't help thinking that if they could afford to live in SB, they'd think of SB as their own city, not somebody else's, and that might positively impact the style and quality of their work.

This is not a knock on the police. If anything, we'd like to see them around more -- cruising conspicuously, not hiding out waiting for speeders.

to treedom... what are you talking about discharging a firearm lightly??? Where did that come from?

My comment about the "hands being tied" was based on the fact that the mayor and the lack of city council have historically not supported the police. It is well known that Marty hates the police and is not willing to stand behind them. What this means is why should they (the police) care? If they rock and roll and go after the gang bangers and people complain (i.e. the gang bangers parents who are too screwed up to know their kids are a part of a gang and complain that the kids are being "profiled" or targeted). That is the time when the police need to be supported, and it simple doesn't happen from our city leaders. You get smucks like Grant House more concerned for the rights of a murderer then you do the victim. What does that tell people in the community or the police? We have fools on the council.

Never do you see them (mayor or council) with the police chief when he makes a statement, or do you ever hear them (the council) talk aggressivly about the gang problem? No, it is always a social program or some other program that does not work. Yeah, rent here is high... why is that? Supply and demand. Pointing out an obvious fact doesn't help our situation. Strong city leadership does, and that is severally lacking here in the form of our mayor and council.

Marty needs to resign.

Interesting article on "fixing the gang problem" published this week in the Independent, right here: http://www.independent.com/news/2008/jul...

Intheknow, thanks for clarifying what you meant.

Lack of affordable housing is not beside the point. It is absolutely fundamental to the problem, so it is essential to the solution.

For decades, lefties who don't want the environmental impact of development, and righties who thrill to the run-up in property values created by artificial scarcity, have hidden together behind the skirts of "supply and demand."

But that's sheer BS. You know it and I know it. There's endless demand for affordable housing, just no supply. And there's never a moment's hesitation to supply another mansion -- people only balk when it's affordable housing.

Really what's going on is neither side likes poor people. But guess what -- unless you start paying a living wage in the service industries, THEY'RE HERE REGARDLESS. They're just renting your neighbor's garage instead of living in dignity.

It's the same story in Goleta. When I lived out there, I was visited by petition-bearing neighbors only once -- they were organizing against affordable housing. If they had showed one tenth of that initiative against the gang problem, Goleta wouldn't have its little G-13 gangbangers. We have no community spirit, no concern for families stressed past the breaking point -- only NIMBYism. And now we reap what we sow.

I live on the Westside on a street where there is serious substandard housing. Next door to me the house has 10 people living in it, across the street has at least 9, two of which are gang-bangers, the house two doors down from them, same thing, another house is full of drug addicts. It's lovely, huh?

However, I'm a single mom with a teenaged son who has worked hard and watched over him and while he is not perfect, he has avoided gangs and drugs. If I can do it without a college education and lousy parents, then anyone can! Seriously, making excuses for these low lifes is not helping them or the rest of the hard working people who also CHOOSE to live in this city.

Affordable housing in SB has never been a reality. To live here you either cram 10 people on welfare into a house or you work your butt off at 2 jobs. It's sad that is how it is but it's a choice to be here! These people who have kids in gangs need to reprioritize & see that it is a bad place for their children, they need to move, take the delinquents somewhere else and give them a chance at a new start. Someone has to hold these MIA parents responsible! Society is only a part of the problem, the majority of it lies at home.

Today, Marty's only comment on the gang situation was a very feeble "it's not ok". Much like you would say to a 2 year old who took a toy from another child. They are not children no matter what their age may be. They are murderers who are walking our streets. Guess what Marty, bringing finger painting and the opportunity to "create" is not going to change a thing. You cannot miss the 800 plus gang members walking our streets when you see them. They practically advertise their "association" and many are carrying weapons. It would be nice if our politicians would give the police the authority to do their job. To those who like to blame the gang problem on the housing costs in SB, guess what? They can move.

Umm ...if there were no people who could not afford housing, then we would not have an affordable housing problem. If you can't afford to live here, why exactly should you be be given the right to? Just because you want to? Why would anyone want to live anywhere else? Does that mean Santa Barbara should build houses for the entire world that would love to live here? A lot of us work pretty darn hard for the privilege and I suppose should foot the bill not only for ourselves but everyone that feels they have a right to live in the best climate and environment in the world without working for it? If it is too hard on you to live here, so you can't even take care of your children, how about trying somewhere where it isn't so hard. I guess that makes too much sense. If i hear from someone that we would then have no workers, well I suppose maybe the children of those people that can afford to live here or the homeless would have jobs instead of roaming the streets. Just like in the days of old. Hey maybe even prisoners could find work, instead of rotting in jail.

Oh by the way, if "the rich" feel they are under served by workers that can't afford to live here - they can move too. Then the price of housing would go down. What's with the living wage and cheap housing entitlement? Someone please explain.

"For decades, lefties who don't want the environmental impact of development, and righties who thrill to the run-up in property values created by artificial scarcity, have hidden together behind the skirts of "supply and demand."

But that's sheer BS. You know it and I know it. There's endless demand for affordable housing, just no supply. And there's never a moment's hesitation to supply another mansion -- people only balk when it's affordable housing."
-Treedom

You don't seem to know what supply and demand is. What you are giving for your explanation as to why that is BS, is the definition of supply and demand. Think before you post. Also there are a lot more mansions built because people are paying for those themselves and are building them in a classically expensive neighborhood. Just because someone can buy their own mansion doesn't mean they should have to build an apartment building as well for all of those that can't afford their own estate. But I digress, it is quite obvious that the city council and mayor have run their course and are in dire need of replacement by people that are willing to work with the police and allow them the resources to tackle the wanna be gang members that are trying to turning a great town into oxnard.

I cant believe what I am hearing. Who are you people who think that the high rent in Santa Barbara is what is causing all of these problems? You are talking about the fact that people are living 10 to a house like there are 10 individuals getting together because they cant survive any other way. Do you not realize that these 10 person house holds are low income families that are having 8 kids when they dont have the means to support themselves?

I am a student in SB living with a single roommate and working a single job while I am in school. It really is not that difficult to live in this town as long as you have some concept of reality and a vague understanding of correlation between that amount of kids you have and the amount of income needed to live with an acceptable quality of life.

I was born in this town and I feel very fortunate to have grown up here. There is a reason we pay the price we do to live in this amazing place. If you cant afford to live here then move to Oxnard or Bakersfield. This is Santa Barbara people.. It has never been cheap to live here and there is no way that lowering the rent prices would do anything but make it easier for these high volume families to move in and create more under educated hoodlums to terrorize this beautiful city.

Unfortunately I couldnt say what the first step would be to fixing these problems short of a procreation license that includes an IQ test.

Oxnard is as expensive as Santa Barbara. sb is getting worse by the minute.

i doubt sbpd is going to stop this issue anytime soon.and the gang issue is just increasing too! i remember the gang in Goleta use to be as dangerous too but not many of them dont do much crime anymore cause the police would always rage thier houses and seize all different types of deadly weapons and drugs and that scared a lot of gang members in Old Town Goleta and the rest were locked up. They are also not that much active right now cause most of them have kids now! which means that they cant go out and run around,cuasing problems because they have to take care of thier kids"this involves the teens too". These were the two things that stopped the Goleta gang problem like around 3 or 4 years ago. And a lot of gang members in Santa Barbara believe that the only way to get out of the gang or which they say"calm-down" is by having a baby and trying to raise it. Other than that a lot dont leave the gangs cause if they do they will get beat up all the time and just cause problems for themselves and they cant run away in SB all the time.
So idk how it will look in a few months but i dont think the SB gangs are going to stop themselves and the police isnt doing much about it even though they say they are.

Trick1 your post is hard to read because of your horrible English. I for one see the police doing a lot to combat the gang problem.

Apparently you didn't hear they arrersted 9 people related to the murder. all with in 24 hours of the killing.

Trick1 is young but has points that give the impression that they know more than many of us do...as we are on the outside looking in. Bad grammar gives the impression of youth, don't you think InTheKnow? Look beyond the grammar and read it again.

Thank you WTF for your comments because I fully agree. I grew up in this town and it has NOT been easy to live here but yes, with hard work at ONE job, most people can support themselves. The people who live near me with 10 to a house are not all full time workers. They have nicer cars than the one I drive! However I choose to have just my son & I live in our 2 bedroom house, which I keep clean and debris free.

I fully feel that if they cannot afford to live here that they should move elsewhere. This IS one of the more expensive cities in the area and I laugh at the person who said that Oxnard is JUST as expensive. I laugh loudly! There are many places in the state where housing costs are lower but Santa Barbara has resources that other places don't have. We have clean air, nice beaches and loads of free programs for their children.

Trick1 I'm still trying to figure out why someone thinks the gang problem in Goleta has gone away. It has gotten worse! I live here and a month ago and recently stopped a gang member in the process of scrawling gang symbols on the stop sign on my front lawn. And I don't even live in Old Town! Several months ago there was a stabbing in the Brandon area I believe, a few weeks ago there was a gunshot victim behind Jack in the Box . We never heard the outcome of that, but my money is on a gang member or parolee or both. This is a FIRST for this area using a gun. I can't even keep up with the rest of the incidents. Go to Rusty's pizza or McDonald's and check out the gang symbols scratched on the tables and on the restroom mirrors. Wake up at 5:30 AM and check out the graffiti before volunteers hastily paint over it - look at the fencing at the corner of Storke and Hollister - you can still see the graffiti that was painted over in green a month or so ago to match the translucent fencing, but with the light behind it you can still tell. I have lived here over 30 years and can tell you gang related graffiti did not occur at all until about two years ago. The culture is there, perhaps dormant from time to time and disguised by the fact that the police are on top of things and so are the volunteers graffiti removers. I prefer the graffiti not be removed so everyone realizes what kind of neighborhoods (or should I say "hoods") they really live in, instead of an imagined fantasy world. Removing the symptoms only disguises the cause. They are having kids now? Great - that only means gang members and gang culture are reproducing - more neglected future gang members on the way folks. By the way, has anyone considered that living wage and affordable housing are a big part of the problem? Enabling and attracting poverty stricken individuals (can you say illegal immigrants?) to the area by handing out freebies only makes the problem worse. With them they bring a third world culture which means many children, which helps economically in the agriculture oriented third world, but here it only means neglected children ( creating gang members and future gang members caused by teen pregnancies) when the parents cannot afford to be in attendance. The family oriented third world culture that we attribute to Mexico is disintegrating when forced to make a living as servant slaves in the USA. Forcing people to tow their own line and work hard to earn what they want keeps them out of trouble. It has always worked for legal immigrants who never had the assistance of living wage and "affordable" housing. If they can't tow their own line in paradise, they should go somewhere where they can- if illegal I suggest going back home. Just because someone wants to live here is no reason we need to feel obligated to pay the way and enable it.

santabarbarasand how do you know how old trick1 is? Is he/she your kid? Then more ignorance is spewed...

His post is full of errors and not just grammatical, I mean factual as RForsyth points out about Goleta. He knows nothing about what is going on, but way to team up with him. Brownie points to you LOL!!!!

Touche' InTheKnow, you are right, I have no way of knowing. I HOPE it is a kid! lol

I know that you enjoy being a rotten person but sometimes you're just hysterically funny, like right now :)

"rotten person".. sticks and stones....