Crime Crackdown in East Palo Alto

"We put three to four officers in the field, that's what we can afford. But with your eyes we've got 30,000."

Those were the words of East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis Wednesday night as he faced an overflow crowd in the Apostolic Assembly Church.

There were eight shootings in eight days in this city earlier this month and one person killed. That's why the chief declared a crime emergency. Surprisingly, the chief says much of the violence was the result of an internal gang dispute among the Nortenos.

"All this nonsense, a group that's so concerned over the kind of tattoo they wear - as a result there are shootings and murder," Davis said.

The people of East Palo Alto spoke too, and while most were calm, some tore into the chief.

Ariana Razo demanded more police presence.

"We want you to be present here and to be present there -- it's not enough to know that you're at Starbucks," she said. "How about asking for help from East Menlo park? How about asking for help from the city of Atherton -- they got nothing to do obviously!"

Alexjia Broussard , whose 10-year-old was wounded four years ago, is wondering why police still haven't caught that gunman.

"My daughter -- she rides down the street in that car and she lies on the floor when you're near the gas station where the shooting happened. She's afraid she's going to get shot," Broussard said.

There was a special prayer circle for those whose children have been killed in street violence in the city.

The chief says he knows there's not one solution to this city's many problems.

"I think we're trying," Davis said. "What I'm hearing is that it's not good enough and we'll try to get better."

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