Data on Violence in Salinas
Violence is a major concern for the Salinas community, and the fear that it is becoming a norm threatens the vision of a community of compassion. Cynicism and fear about violence must also be addressed. Surveys conducted as part of the Tellus Project, a countywide community assessment, reveal the concern about crime and violence. When one survey administered to 2,600 adults across the County asked: “How concerned are you with crime in Monterey County?” 75.6% answered very concerned, and 21.0% were somewhat concerned. 7 The recognition that more services and resources are necessary to impact violence prevention is illustrated by the results of another survey which asked community groups in Monterey County to name the most serious gaps in services. The most frequent response was the lack of “violence reduction” services, identified by 62% of the respondents.8

Similar to national trends in violence, Salinas has gradually witnessed a decline. However homicide, forcible rape and other forms of violent crime remain ongoing issues in Salinas. Salinas experienced a peak of 24 homicides reported during 1994. According to police statistics, in 1998 there was a decrease in most major violent crimes from the previous year, except robbery with a weapon, which increased by 59%.

Salinas Police Department: Offense History

Offenses	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Murder	15	24	15	9	18	17
Forcible Rape	31	53	40	46	55	51
Armed Robbery	354	258	301	238	181	289
Aggravated Assault	844	846	950	884	895	661

In developing this framework, it was important to understand not only the facts, but also community perceptions about violence in Salinas. The questionnaire utilized for this report asked respondents about their impressions of the prevalence of six types of violence. (See chart below.) It should be noted that different strands of violence are frequently intertwined and it is difficult to separate them. For example, respondents identified the high prevalence of gang violence and domestic violence, and many indicated that gun violence and gang violence often occur in the same incidents. Similarly, bullying is often seen as a pre-cursor to gang violence, and as a correlate to domestic violence and sexual assault.

Type of Violence Respondents Considered Most Prevalent in Salinas

Type	Core Group	Extended Network	Composite of Both
Gang Violence	100%	85%	89%
Domestic Violence	78%	66%	69%
Gun Violence	85%	50%	58%
Child Abuse	71%	50%	55%
Sexual Violence	50%	35%	39%
Bullying	42%	38%	39%

As noted in the table above, gang violence emerged as the primary concern and was perceived as the most prevalent form of violence in Salinas. A county-wide Tellus telephone survey in 1996 also revealed the concern about gang violence. Seventy-three percent of respondents were very concerned about gang activity in Monterey County.

In 1996, Monterey County Sheriff’s Department reported that there were at least 47 different gangs in the County involving approximately 1,340 people. 9 Brian Contreras, Director of Second Chance, a gang intervention and prevention program in Salinas, reports that gang related activity has steadily risen since 1996. He estimates that currently there are 52 street gangs in Monterey County with approximately 3,000 members, while in Salinas there are 16 street gangs with an estimated membership of 1,500 to 2,000 youth. Of all violent crimes in Salinas in 1998, 15% were classified as gang-related. In 1998, police classified 71% of the 17 homicides committed in Salinas as gang-related. Thirty-one percent of drive-by shootings and 44% of all aggravated assaults involving a firearm were gang related.10

Street and gang violence are usually more visible than violence in the home. Domestic violence is recognized as an important issue in Salinas and it emerged in the questionnaires as the 2^nd type of violence that respondents saw as most prevalent. When County residents in a telephone survey were asked how concerned they were about domestic violence, 48% were very concerned, 35.3% were somewhat concerned, while 7.2% were not concerned at all.11

Violence in the home places youth at increased risk for witnessing violence as well as their own victimization. Statistics from the Women’s Crisis Center, which serves Salinas and South Monterey County, show that it served 3,841 unduplicated domestic violence clients from June 1997 to July 1998. In 1998, there were a total of 6,674 children referred to the Monterey County Family and Children Services unit for neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, absence/incapacity of parent, among other reasons. Of the children referred, nearly half (3,272) were residents of the City of Salinas.12

The Women’s Crisis Center has seen an increase in reported sexual assaults. From July 1996 to June 1997, 216 sexual assaults were reported to the center. In the period from July 1997 to June 1998, there were 347 sexual assaults reported to the Crisis Center.13 Sexual assault is thought to be one of the most under-reported crimes, and this may be evident in Salinas when comparing reports from the Crisis Center and the Police Department. In Salinas, police statistics show that in 1997 there were 55 forcible rapes and 10 attempted rapes; in 1998 the Police Department reports 51 forcible rapes and 6 attempted rapes.
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