Homicides are on a record pace in Kern County, and police think they know why -- a deadly new strategy by gang members to murder turf rivals. There may be more than a hundred homicides this year.
There have been more homicides so far this year than in all of 2008, according to Supervising Deputy County Coroner John VanRensselaer.
"As of today we have 66 documented homicides in Kern County," he said. And he noted that some cases in which the cause of death has not yet been determined that will end up classified as homicides.
This year, there has been an average of one murder every 3.3 days. If that trend holds, the homicide rate will easily surpass the record of 98 set back in 1994.
Nearly 90 percent of the homicides committed in Kern County this year are gang-related.
Law enforcement has no easy explanation why the homicide rate is up this year, but they do know one thing when it comes to gang-related homicides.
The gangs have changed their tactics.
It "used to be they'd just drive by and shoot from a moving vehicle, and not always hit their target,'' said Det. Mary DeGeare of the Bakersfield Police Department. ''Now, they're walking up to their victims. They know who they want to shoot and they're shooting directly at them."
And, she said, there are more cases of gang members within the same gang shooting each other, suggesting there are power struggles going on in several local street gangs.
The spike in homicides, and the fact that gangs are responsible for most of them, is a major concern for Supervisor Michael Rubio, who has worked hard in developing a comprehensive strategy to combat gang violence in Kern County.
"It adds credence to what the experts told us when they were in our community. When the economy goes down, crime rates go up. And we're seeing that," Rubio said.
With recent budget cuts, at both the city and county level, law enforcement is stretched thin.
Gang units are hard-pressed to keep up with all the violence.
Some officials believe gang members are becoming less worried about getting caught, and that's why they're urging members of the community to come forward when they witness violent crimes.
"What we're trying to do is saturate those areas where gangs are active. And we're using all of our resources to combat it. But in order to take control of it, people are going to have to start stepping up and being witnesses, even if they're anonymous," DeGeare said.
If you witness a crime and have information that would be useful to law enforcement, you can remain anonymous by calling the secret witness hotline at 322-4040.
