Salinas? Monterey? Help pls (Pacific Grove: fit in, rentals, home)

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by smeghead09

I have several family members who are police officers in Salinas and trust me -SERIOUSLY- this city is much worse than the biast newspaper, The Salinas Californian, makes it sound.

Yeah ... I have to admit, Salinas is in serious trouble. We thought maybe we shouldn't believe everything we hear so, we thought we would check out some new housing tracks, parts of which are still under construction.

I've never seen anything like it. They were brand new neighborhoods but, the area was already overrun with undesirables. You just didn't feel safe there.

So much for that experiment ... we'll never go back to Salinas again.

[Grunt556]

I am a Correctional Peace Officer for the Department of Corrections. I moved to Salinas 3 years ago to start work at the state prison in Soledad (30 min south of Salinas).

I do NOT recommend for anybody to move to Salinas. Salinas is the capital city for the "Nuestra Familia" prison gang. This prison gang has control of all northern California gangs. Some of the most violent "northern" gangs are located in Salinas.

The bad thing about Salinas is that even if you live in the nicer parts of town you have no choice but to shop and work in the bad areas. The city is to small to be away from the criminals.

The cost of living in Salinas is also one of the highest in the U.S. This place is not worth the cost just to put your family in harms way.

I myself am transferring out of Salinas in about 2 weeks. I will never step foot in Salinas again!

Here is a quote from a news clip from September 28, 2004:

By GEORGE B. SANCHEZ Herald Staff Writer

The U.S. Department of Justice's costliest and longest investigation of a California prison gang came to a quiet close Monday as top Nuestra Familia leaders pleaded guilty to criminal racketeering charges in a San Francisco courtroom.

The multi-agency, multimillion-dollar prosecution started in 2000 with the indictment of Salinas Nuestra Familia members Hector Gallegos, Caesar Ramirez, Rico Garcia and others by U.S. Attorney Robert Mueller, now director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The pleas bring an end to Operation Black Widow, a controversial investigation that began in 1997 and aimed to break the leadership of the Nuestra Familia, the notorious prison gang with extensive operations in Salinas.

The FBI was the lead investigative agency in the operation that involved nearly 30 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Monterey County District Attorneys office and Salinas police. Seventy-five people have been prosecuted as part of Operation Black Widow and spin-off state and federal prosecutions, said U.S. Attorney Steven Gruel.

Eight Nuestra Familia gang leaders agreed to prison sentences Monday in federal court. Five men agreed to federal life sentences and another three agreed to 10 years in federal custody.

The goal of the prosecution, said federal Judge Charles Breyer, was to take the gang's leadership out of California's prisons and "disperse them to the four corners of federal jurisdiction."

"I am no expert but I hope that the federal Bureau of Prisons will be able to curtail or eliminate the level of gang activity," Breyer said.

With the pre-trial guilty pleas, the organization and inner workings of the upper echelon of the Nuestra Familia will not be brought to public light in a jury trial. It also means that the integrity of the government's informant, Danny Hernandez, one of the highest ranked criminals ever to cooperate with the FBI, will not be questioned by federal defense attorneys.

Gerald Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristan, James Morado, Tex Hernandez and Joseph Hernandez, all of whom are currently serving life sentences in state prison, agreed to life in federal custody. A global settlement allowed for 10-year federal sentences for Henry Cervantes, Daniel Perez and Alberto Larez, a former Salinas resident. Gruel said the defendants have all been in and out of prison since 1979.

All defendants pleaded guilty to one count of criminal racketeering, which Gruel said included conspiracy and murder, specifically the 1998 Salinas murders of Michael "Mikeo" Castillo and Vincent Garcia-Sanchez.

By 2001, 22 members and associates of the Nuestra Familia were indicted on more than 30 charges including murder, racketeering, assault, drug trafficking and conspiracy. It was the last major investigation led by Robert Mueller before he was picked to head the FBI. By last November, 13 of the defendants had pleaded guilty. On July 21, the only defendant facing the death penalty, Rico Garcia, of Salinas, pleaded guilty and agreed to a federal life sentence.

"It remains to be seen ultimately whether this prosecution was warranted in the long run," Breyer said. Acknowledging the possible risk of introducing prison gang leaders into the federal prison system, he added, "This disposition is the only one that makes sense."

The case has been controversial in part because the leading government informant, Hernandez, was found to have engaged in unauthorized criminal activity while under the FBI's watch, including gun trafficking and drug dealing. Lawyers involved in the case also have contended that Hernandez ordered the May 2001 execution of Raymond Sanchez at Cap's Saloon in Salinas.

Prosecutor Gruel said the pleas entered Monday were conditional and dependant on the defendants' state sentences being commuted by the California Department of Corrections, Gov. Schwarzenegger and the state Supreme Court. Federal defense attorneys expect the state sentences to be commuted by early December, when the defendants new federal sentences will be handed down.

[Franklyn]

Originally Posted by Grunt556

I am a Correctional Peace Officer for the Department of Corrections. I moved to Salinas 3 years ago to start work at the state prison in Soledad (30 min south of Salinas).

As a retired LEO who still lives near Salinas let me clean up a little of Grunt556's sludge. He has a crappy job in a crappy place. That gives him a crappy attitude. He is soon transferring to another crappy job in what he thinks will be a much better place, but once he gets there and settles in he will find he's brought his 'crap' right along with him. He means well, but is probably young and relatively inexperienced. So give him a pass this time.

Salinas has never been mistaken for 'Paradise'. [That city is located above Sacramento, in the foothills near Chico]. But Salinas is a well run small sized city which finds itself the county seat of Monterey County. It happens to have several state prisons just down the road a few miles, so it seconds as a bedroom community for prison staff. Many of them display the ill manners and attitude of Grunt556. Others do not. It's a mixed blessing.

Parts of Salinas have gang problems. Those are avoidable parts. A few years ago some new home builders were encouraged by silly liberal politicians to put several new home subdivisions in the same area of town where gang problems exist. Nationally, things have now changed. Wow, what a surprise. That's where the sub-prime mortgage problem intermixed with the gang problem, and the outcome in those neighborhoods has not been pretty.

Actually, from what my LE contacts tell me the "capitol" of the Nuestra Familia gang is the state prison at Pelican Bay, CA. Fresno, Salinas, Compton, East Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Stockton and several other California cities have sizable populations of gang members. But their members shift around a bit as local enforcement efforts heat up, so saying one city is more important than another to a gang is only a temporary "truth", if that.

The bad thing about Salinas is that even if you live in the nicer parts of town you have no choice but to shop and work in the bad areas. The city is to small to be away from the criminals.

Unbelievable! "No choice". [shakes head] You can shop and work in the 'bad' areas if you wish, but Officer Grunt has simply misstated the facts. I shop and attend church every week in the main part of the commercial area. Near and around the malls and shopping centers. I feel safer there than in New York, San Francisco, San Jose, Dallas, or London. What in the world is he looking for? If he see's gang members skulking about, trying to line him up in their gunsights everywhere he goes, maybe he needs something else, not a job transfer. But I could be wrong on this. Maybe gang members ARE after him. I don't know. I just don't have the same experience. Nor do most of my friends and neighbors who ostensibly work in the Prisons with him.

Where Grunt556 is spot on, though, is about the cost of living issue. Salinas is an expensive place to live. And I suspect that might be the crux of the matter with him. The state does not help their employees in this area overcome the higher cost of living, [the way they do in SF] and if they were an honest employer they probably would. But we've never accused our political leadership of actually being 'honest', so that won't happen anytime soon.

My family enjoys living and working in Salinas and the Monterey Bay area. We feel safe and comfortable, year round. While the rest of the nation sweats or freezes, we live at room temperature, pretty much. What's not to like about that?

PS: I see Officer Grunt has scrounged up a four year old "news" article from a competing cities newspaper trying to convince folk it's folly to choose Salinas over their own fair town. Its not news, its a few facts sprinkled with opinions. So?

[FresnoFacts]

Originally Posted by Franklyn

Actually, from what my LE contacts tell me the "capitol" of the Nuestra Familia gang is the state prison at Pelican Bay, CA. Fresno, Salinas, Compton, East Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Stockton and several other California cities have sizable populations of gang members. But their members shift around a bit as local enforcement efforts heat up, so saying one city is more important than another to a gang is only a temporary "truth", if that.

Before you paint too broad of a brush about only a few other cities let me just point out that Fresno has a lower crime rate than Sacramento or San Francisco. Salinas is also a lower crime rate.

city-data.com has 2006 crime rate index numbers
Monterey 362.1
Salinas 423.4
Fresno 488.2
San Francisco 519.9
Sacramento 665.9
Stockton 755.9
Oakland 969.2

[impala666]

Salinas... Not unless the job is a good one.
If that is so then live with your family in a normal safe place and drive in.
Remember some people work in Iraq.
I`ve driven through Salinas in my bright red convertible and the reactions go from smiles and waves to hard stares and hands patting imaginary shoulder holsters within a few blocks believe me this is not B/S if you don`t believe try it for yourself.
This is not the California I moved myself and my kids from England to.
Drive a few miles and everything changes, exactly the same as in LA.
On the whole unless you are very rich or have incredible job prospects I would leave California to the Californians this a fantastic place don't get me wrong but to live the lifestyle (which is what most people want to come here for) costs megabucks.
If you are very beautiful or very talented you will make it anywhere but you would already know that and would be halfway there already.
At the end of the day it`s your choice don`t let an old insomniac put you off. But do your homework usually from my experience if an offer is too good to be true there will be a reason for it.

[calidude]

Salinas is a nice place to live so is Monterey. If not there try Watsonville maybe

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by FresnoFacts

Before you paint too broad of a brush about only a few other cities let me just point out that Fresno has a lower crime rate than Sacramento or San Francisco. Salinas is also a lower crime rate.

city-data.com has 2006 crime rate index numbers
Monterey 362.1
Salinas 423.4
Fresno 488.2
San Francisco 519.9
Sacramento 665.9
Stockton 755.9
Oakland 969.2

That's fine but ... those stats are from 2006. A lot has happened since then. Check out this map of Salinas shootings just since January ... you can get the crime report from each incident by clicking on the icons.

Google Maps

I seriously considered Salinas myself but, I just can't bring myself to consider living there, much less buy a house. For us the real kicker was when we were shopping in South Salinas, supposedly the best part of town. Maybe it was just one of those bizarre things but there was a guy dressed as a priest carrying a sign advocating child rape ...

The place is just too bizarre for me. We'd go look at brand new subdivisions and, already, they were overrun with bad elements. Fact is ... Salinas is a war zone because basically, it's the dividing point between North and South gang territories so ... chances are it's not going to change much.

And all the mayor has done is ask people to "fast for peace." His town is a war zone and that's all he can say ... totally lame. He should be doing what LA is doing ... getting the feds involved with tougher prosecutions and shipping these gangsters off to federal prisons out of state.

I think the mayor's response turned me off more than anything else. He basically lets the gangsters run the place. There are some towns you just have to write off and ... Salinas is one of them.

[calidude]

My cousin grew up in Salinas right by Hartnell park it wasnt that bad. Try being white and growing up on the border of LA and inglewood now theres a crime ridden area.

[FresnoFacts]

Originally Posted by sheri257

That's fine but ... those stats are from 2006. A lot has happened since then. Check out this map of Salinas shootings just since January ... you can get the crime report from each incident by clicking on the icons.

I haven't kept up with Salinas this year.

The 2007 FBI violent crime figures show Salinas as basically the same as 2006, Fresno down about 15%, Sacramento down about 10% and San Francisco and Stockton both about the same as 2006.

I can point out that in 2008 Fresno and San Francisco look like this:
San Francisco (population about 800,000) 59 murders to date.
Fresno (population roughly 485,000) 23 murders to date.

What is Salinas' homicides to date in 2008?

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by FresnoFacts

San Francisco (population about 800,000) 59 murders to date. Fresno (population roughly 485,000) 23 murders to date.

What is Salinas' homicides to date in 2008?

About 16 ... but Salinas has only 150,000 people. Law enforcement usually breaks it down by murders per 100,000 people so ...


That would put Salinas at 11 murders per 100,000 versus ...

Seven for SF and about five for Fresno.

So ... Salinas is way up there. "Fasting" anyone?

I'm sure encouraging the population to go hungry (per the mayor's "holistic peace" initiative) will reduce the murder rate ...