ACLU Gets Involved In Gang Crackdown
Police Chief Defends Department's Recent Sweeps
POSTED: 4:45 pm PST February 10, 2005
UPDATED: 6:50 pm PST February 10, 2005
CERES, Calif. -- They responded to the killing of a fellow officer by arming up and heading into neighborhoods to crack down on gangs. But now, some people claim that the Central Valley police are violating the rights of young Latinos.
Esteban Diaz, 20, says he's had several frightening encounters with Ceres police officers in recent weeks.
"This neighborhood already, they came at us, already 15, 16 times with gunpoint. Only twice they came with no gun," Diaz said.
Diaz lives in the Ceres neighborhood of El Campo. He was a friend of Andres Raya, the Marine who gunned down Sgt. Howie Stevenson and critically wounded Officer Sam Ryno last month.
"They are trying to look for somebody to blame because they can't blame my friend Andy no more. They had a gun in back of my friend's head for no reason. We weren't doing nothing. They took away my car for no reason," Diaz said.
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