Fresno police promising Christmas 'presence' for local gangs

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A city wide operation has led to the arrests of hundreds of gang members in Fresno and now police are ramping up tactical units ahead of the holidays.

Fresno police say rival gangs fighting over drugs, territory and human trafficking caused a spike in shootings in late November through the beginning of December. Officers are on now on day 21 of a strategic sweep and they're targeting gang leaders who terrorize local neighborhoods.

Police say innocent victims are often caught in the middle of gunfire and hurt during gang feuds but many of them are worried about speaking up because they're scared of retaliation.

"Any citizen is an important citizen regardless of where they live in our city. What we are doing during this operation is educating individuals as to why they are seeing so many officers in their neighborhood and to hopefully spur some communication to let them know it's okay to call us," said Sgt. Ron Hughes.

Early Wednesday morning officers rushed to a call after a drive-by shooting put two bullet holes inside a house. Sgt. Hughes says gang leaders often use stolen and unregistered guns during crimes.

"Anytime we can remove illegal firearms in the city from people who shouldn't have them the people in the city of Fresno are a lot safer," said Sgt. Hughes.

So far tactical units have pulled nearly 80 illegal guns during the three week operation. Officers have also made nearly 950 felony arrests and over half of those people taken into custody are vetted gang members.