Nearly 300 arrested in Fresno police gang operation

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Nearly 300 people were arrested in a massive city wide gang operation aimed at targeting Fresno's most violent criminals.

The chief says police haven't seen this type of crime increase in years. Officers are hitting the streets and while they've got a long way to go they say they've made some good progress.

One week since the start of the gang operation police netted nearly 300 arrests. 125 of those are gang members. The mission has officers working overtime, knocking on doors, doing search warrants, looking for drugs and weapons.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer added, "We're not done, we're going to continue in that direction until we get the violent crime back where it needs to be."

The chief says the numbers aren't good. The operation was jump started after the violent robbery of a Fresno gun store owner.

Chief Dyer said, "It was a senseless act of violence by two cowards both of those individuals who went in to commit the robbery knew what the consequences could be."

The 85-year-old victim became the city's 47th homicide this year. They're still looking for suspects and still investigating after a 16-year-old girl was shot in the head, an innocent victim of a gang retaliation.

The Chief says they've made a lot of arrests and while the shootings haven't decreased, the retaliation has quieted down, but the challenge has always been whether those offenders will stay behind bars.

"Even though we put together an operation like this, and we're putting people in jail that need to be in jail sometimes we're not able to keep them in jail," explained Chief Dyer.

He says Proposition 47 has hit law enforcement hard, and says his officers are already seeing the results of the ballot initiative that reduced the penalties for certain offenses.

Chief Dyer said, "It's difficult to continue to address violent and property crimes when one of the most effective tools has been removed from law enforcement."

The Chief also says his officers are working on community service during this mission, so that communities also see the positive influences.