A Terrible Loss

The Cacique gang murder indicates that adults whether high on machismo or drugs are still playing these turf war, barrio BS and it is at the expense of the rest of us. Seriously, grow the f**k up. The rest of the community doesn’t care whether you are a Southsider, Eastsider, Westsider, or from Loontown or Mars.

I have lived within a couple of blocks where this gang murder occurred for more than two decades. The neighborhood, for the most part, is cemetery quiet after 10 p.m. It has always been peaceful. There are good, hardworking people who live in this area.

Having covered the Ventura County Superior Court for eight years as a newspaper reporter, I know that most of these gang members aren’t as tough as they want us to believe. I have seen them on the stand during countless jury trials, and they will turn on each other and some start crying while testifying to save their own keisters.

It is terrible when a human being loses his life, and many of these people, especially youngsters, should be helped through community resources. Many of us, however, also need to get more involved in some way in helping many of these kids. I did volunteer work at the old Santa Barbara Juvenile Detention Center when it was opened, and many of the female juveniles were been beaten and sexually abused. It is really sad. Most are just youngsters with a lot of energy and nowhere to channel it.

But the adult “gangsters” need to grow up and stop the ese BS game because the rest of us aren’t interested.

Sooner or later, the community will tire and demand that a local, state and federal task force start investigations to get these violent people off the streets and put into cages to protect the rest of us.