SLO sheriff to expand gang task force

June 23, 2016

slo sheriff flashThe San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors allocated more than $230,000 to add two deputies to the Sheriff’s Gang Task Force. Sheriff Ian Parkinson says gangs from Santa Maria, as well as Monterey and Kern counties, are moving into SLO County. [KSBY]

Sheriff’s officials requested funding for the new deputies during last week’s county budget hearings. Starting in July, the new gang task force members are expected to patrol areas including Oceano and Templeton.

Parkinson says the gangs that the sheriff’s office is dealing with are primarily Hispanic, but there are also motorcycle gangs appearing in North County and white supremacy gangs in the Five Cities area. More manpower is needed to prevent the gangs in neighboring areas from moving into SLO County, Parkinson said.

In 2015, there were 13 murders in Santa Maria and 40 in Salinas, most of which were due to gang violence. Kern County had 81 homicides in 2015 and has had 54 thus far in 2016, according to KGET.

Though Kern County has a sizeable gang problem, it also has the distinction of being the nationwide leader in fatal police shootings. Law enforcement officers killed more people per capita in Kern County last year than in any other county in the United States. As of early December, Kern County officers had killed 13 people in 2015.

The SLO Sheriff’s Office says the new task force members will not solve the county’s gang problem, but will help address the issue.


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Crime continues to fall, scaremongering continues to rise. Come on folks, do some research, your perception of reality is not necessarily reality.


Motorcycle gangs appearing in North County? What’s he talking about?


Molochs have been here forever, but I see a Vagos support shirt now and then. Do they have an active North County chapter now?


One more thing….an MC tends to get pissed being called a gang, but LE sees it different I guess.


This annoys me.


Sell the panga boat and the unicorn catcher and the fancy stuff, quit asking for huge annual raises when other staff go without.


I heard the jail lost a LOT of nursing staff because the pay is SO BAD that they can literally go anywhere else and make more. Nurses at the County have had like a 40 cent raise in 8-9 years, while Sheriffs get all kinds of incentives.


An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but hey, let’s keep cutting services that might help people not resort to crime. That is working SO WELL.


Will the task force focus in on white collar criminals like petitite hill teal


At least they won’t spread by the water we have a really nice boat to catch them with.


Ladies & Gentlemen,


If SLO County ramps up its anti-gang effort, it should come with a way to measure tihe success of the effort. As criminal gangs move in, their impact on families will increase.


Unfortunately, Santa Barbara County has allowed the gang problem to go unchecked for years, and now the MS-13 violent transnational gang has a foothold in the local north county high schools, and Santa Maria city leaders have declared their town to be a ‘Sanctuary City’.


Local North Santa Barbara County political leaders like Steve Lavignino and Alice Patino accept campaign cash from ‘Big Ag’ strawberry growers, and, in return, they make sure the farmers illegal alien workforce gets taken care of by local government. Because of this corruption, local taxpayers are being forced to pay for their scheme.


Do NOT let what has happened in SB County happen in SLO.


Just saying


josey wales would never lie like this. obviously a cheap knock off government civil servant trying to scare the shyt out of people for money. gangs mess with gangs. the gang of cops steal from you.


Only a phony who doesn’t even know how to spell his own name would troll off others comments…the tired argument that cops versus gangsters is an either/or proposition doesn’t speak to reality, and only shows the ignorance of someone who lacks education.


Just saying.


imitation is the sincerest form of flattery….


they are both gangsters moron, only the latter are more honest with a higher code of ethics and transparency.


That Sanctuary City crap will go in the dumpster when Trump takes over!


the only gang you have to worry about is Ian’s gang. They will do anything to scare their victims out of more money to fund their exorbitant salaries, pensions and benefits so they can break whatever law they want. These are the types of vermin he wants to hire more of:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wKRKGqYZjI