Escondido police and stakeholders are trying to curb increasing violence among youth gangs

From January to June of this year, Escondido police arrested 41 juveniles for delinquency, a faster pace than in 2023, when they made 57 arrests for the entire year.

“In the last year or so, we've seen a lot more gang activity among our youth,” said Ryan Hicks, a lieutenant in charge of investigations for the Escondido Police Department. “These kids are getting into fights and they're carrying knives and guns and they're carrying improvised weapons that they're stabbing with.”

Hicks said the presence of these weapons turned a possible teenage brawl into a murder or attempted murder.

Now, Escondido police are reinstating a gang-fighting team. The department had one several years ago but had to dismantle it due to staffing issues and a decline in gang crime.

“Of course, patrol always has to come first. That's why we had to disband that enforcement team and let the patrol officers do the gang enforcement,” Hicks said.

The two-person team will engage with at-risk youth and conduct fentanyl prevention. One of the officers is fluent in Spanish and hopes to connect with non-English speaking parents.

The team's tasks will include getting to know the young people and identifying those who hang out in neighborhoods where gangs operate.

Younger and new faces are new territory for the police. This also applies to some of the new trends among younger generations, such as social media.

“So we have to change our tactics on how we monitor them,” Hicks said. “We have a person whose sole job is to monitor the social media of some of the gang and the kids associated with the gang. That's often when they show their gang affiliation.”

While police try to prevent further gang crime, municipal attorney Agner Medrano says the problem has deeper roots.

As a former gang member, he is familiar with the gang activity and violence that has plagued the city for years.

“All of the Flower Streets (streets named after flowers) on the east side of town are Diablos' territory. The Westside gang is on all of the numbered streets and in the old Escondido area,” he said. “Mission is also another busy street. There are a few monuments on that side.”

Medrano led us to the most recent memorial, off Wanek Road. “This is the memorial for one of the young children who was killed about a month ago,” he said.

Kayden Alan Romo, 14, died in hospital after being stabbed in a street brawl. Police said the brawl was related to gang violence and arrested two teenagers.

While Romo died in gang violence, others survived with lifelong consequences – including a young man who asked to remain anonymous in this article out of fear for his safety.

At the beginning of the year he was shot in front of his house.

“We fought for a long time until one of them pulled out a gun and started shooting. … After the shot, they got back in the car and ran away,” he said.

The bullet hit his back and left him paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life.

“It really changed my life. … everything I could do back then. I'm now trying to learn how to do everything on my own again,” he said.

No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting. He and his family hope to leave Escondido after saving some money.

Medrano said one factor in the rise of gangs is the lack of resources for youth. “Where there is poverty, where there is division, where there are drugs and guns, all of these are factors that favor gangs,” he said.

Escondido City Councilor Consuelo Martinez acknowledged that gaps in the city's budget have prevented any expansion of youth and community resources.

“There are not enough resources,” she said. “Our city is facing a huge budget deficit.”

That is why she called for creativity.

“We may not have unlimited resources, but we have our community and our community has resources. It has creative ideas. We are innovative in our city. So let's come together and really try to support our youth and really curb this violence and say, 'This is not OK. We don't want violence in our community.'”

She is calling on community members, businesses and churches to offer after-school activities for young people. She also wants to offer grief counseling for families affected by gang violence.

Medrano said when he was in a gang, he was a young boy who needed guidance, and he still sees that need today.

“We need to be mentors to our children and our youth. Sometimes we as adults need to take responsibility for our village (and say): 'This is our village. And ultimately, what can we do to help our youth?'”

Medrano and police advise parents to watch and talk to their children, keep an eye on their whereabouts, what they are wearing, any weapons or graffiti on their belongings, and their social media activity.

Medrano said the change can fall into everyone's hands. “We have to lead our community,” he said. “We can't say, 'Oh, that's a police officer's job, that's the nonprofits' job.' It's all of our jobs.”