36 MICHAEL A. HESTRIN DISTRICT ATTORNEY County of Riverside L995 Hwy Ill, Third Floor. Suite 101 India, California MICHAEL A. HESTRIN District Attorney FILED Superior Court of California County of RlverSIde County of Riverside 2I26l2016 82995 Hwy 111, Ste. 101 agarcia1 Indio, California 92201 Fax Telephone (760) 863-8216 Kirsten Seebart, Deputy District Attorney State Bar No. 209690; kseebart@rivcoda.org SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE (Indio) Case No. PSC 1600917 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, ex rel. MICHAEL HESTRIN as the District Attorney for the County of Riverside, DECLARATION OF HERLINDA VALENZUELA IN SUPPORT OF Plaintiff, EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE: PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION VARRIO COACHELLA RIFA CRIMINAL STREET GANG, an unincorporated association, Assigned for all purposes to the 3M Honorable Defendant. I, Herlinda Valenzuela declare: 1. I am, and have been a sworn peace of?cer in the State of California for the last 17 years. I am currently employed by the County of Riverside Sheriff? 5 Department, Thermal Station. I am currently assigned as a School Resource Of?cer at both Bobby Duke Middle School and Cahuilla Desert Academy Middle School, which are both located in the City of Coachella, County of 1 DECLARATION OF HERLINDA VALENZUELA IN SUPPORT OF EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE: PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION 000743 36 MICHAEL A. DISTRICT ATTORNEY County of Riverside 82995 Hwy 111, Third Floor, Suite 101 India, California Riverside, California. I have been assigned to this position since August 2013. 2. Prior to becoming the School Resource Of?cer for Bobby Duke Middle School and Cahuilla Desert Academy Middle School, I was assigned to the County Jail for approximately 1.5 years, patrol at Palm Desert Station for 7 years, Administration-Media Information Bureau for 4.5 years, and patrol at Thermal Station, including the city of Coachella for 2 years. 3. During my assignment at the Riverside County Jail, I contacted many Coachella gang members because they required separate housing from the general population in order to avoid con?icts or crimes against the general population inmates. During my assignment at the Palm Desert Sheriff?s Station I worked as a Field Training Of?cer and patrol operations in the cities of Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells and the unincorporated areas in the County of Riverside known as Thousand Palms, Desert Hot Springs, and Sky Valley. 4. During my assignment as a public information of?cer for the County of Riverside, I responded to and covered many incidents in the city of Coachella in which many of the perpetrators or victims of a crime were documented or self-admitted gang members. 5. During my assignment at the Indio Sheriff? Station later, relocated to Thermal, I worked patrol operations in the city of La Quinta, the unincorporated areas of the County of Riverside known as Desert Shores, Salton Sea, Oasis, Thermal, Mecca, Indio, City of La Quinta and the City of Coachella. I was often assigned to patrol the city of Coachella where I familiarized myself with some of the known gangs in the city to include the criminal street gang VCR, or Varrio Coachella Rifa, and its subsets, VCR 52, VCR 53, Coachella Tiny Locos, and 50 Boyz. I responded to numerous calls for service to include assaults, drive by shootings, assaults with a deadly weapon, vandalism, thefts, and burglaries. Many of these incidents involved or looked related to gang members. During my contact with reporting parties, they often feared giving information to assist in identifying the suspects because they were afraid of retaliation against them or their families, citing that they live in a city in which gang activity is and has been prevalent for years. 6. My assignment at Cahuilla Desert Academy and Bobby Duke Middle School is primarily to ensure the safety of the students and staff and deter criminal activity. Some of my responsibilities include, but are not limited to, handling crimes committed at the school sites. 7. Since my assignment as a school resource of?cer for the two middle schools in Coachella, Cahuilla Desert Academy and Bobby Duke Middle School, I have had contact with students who have parents who belong to some of the criminal street gangs or are related to members of these street gangs. Many of the students are either directly or indirectly impacted by the crimes committed by the gang members because they either witness the crimes are related to, or know the individuals involved in the crimes. I often see the pictures of the graves belonging to deceased gang members 2 DECLARATION OF HERLINDA VALENZUELA IN SUPPORT OF EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE: PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION 000744 36 MICHAEL A. HESTRIN ATTORNEY County of Riverside 82995 Hwy 111, Third Floor, Suite 101 India, California posted on some of the students? Facebook public pages with many ?likes? or comments from fellow students. During my interviews with some of the students who have committed crimes at the school involving weapons, drugs, thefts, have assaulted or battered students, or threatened school employees, students refuse to admit association with the street gangs. However when I View their public social media postings, many of them have pictures of themselves throwing up a street gang signs. Frequently I see students post a photo of the street signs for Avenue 50, Avenue 52 or Avenue 53. I have had students admit to socializing with street gangs and say they feel they must, at minimum, maintain a peaceful relationship with the gang members in the area in which they live. Many victims of the crimes committed at school will not cooperate and say they are not ?ratting out,? a term used by gang members that refers to someone who gives incriminating information to authorities about someone. 8. Bobby Duke Middle School is located at 85358 Bagdad and many students walk from the surrounding streets from all directions. 9. On March 20, 2014, Bobby Duke Middle School was placed on lockdown when jurors and the suspect of a 2000 gang related homicide committed directly north of the school, between Bobby Duke Middle School and Palm View Elementary School, were brought to the scene of the crime as part of a criminal trial. The Special Enforcement Bureau responded in order to ensure their safety. Though the homicide itself occurred years prior the return of the suspect gang member to the crime scene, law enforcement still had to address the security threat because there was a real risk that the victim?s gang associates could have used the opportunity to retaliate. 10. In February, 2015, I investigated an incident at Bobby Duke Middle School where a student was approached by a Hispanic male from a known gang family as the student and his girlfriend were walking to school. The male confronted the victim about a dispute between the victim and the male?s brother who also attended Bobby Duke Middle School. During the course of my investigation, the victim's father responded to the school and said he was in fear for his son's safety. He then said he had older sons who belong to a "clu who might want to confront the other male. Based on my training and experience, I knew that the father was referring to the fact that his older sons were also gang members and they were going to handle the incident outside school and law enforcement channels. Approximately one month later, the male who threatened the student victim was gunned down in Coachella in an unrelated dispute. The deceased male?s brother was removed from the school by his family as they now feared for his safety. This incident illustrates the cycle of intimidation, retaliation, and disruption that gang permeated communities confront on a daily basis. Most of the students at Bobby Duke Middle School walk to and from school. They walk through gang territory and are exposed to the gang members every single school day as they try 3 DECLARATION OF HERLINDA VALENZUELA IN SUPPORT OF EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE: PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION 000745 36 MICHAEL A. County of Riverside 82995 Hwy 111, Third Floor, Suite 101 India, Californil to get from home to school and back again. 1 1. During my contact with students at Bobby Duke Middle School, I have seen their interest in the gangs. Many of these middle school students are fascinated by the gangs and use the language and signs used by local Coachella gangs, primarily Varrio Coachella Rifa and its subsets. On many occasions I have seen graf?ti in their workbooks and carrying drawings indicative of gang af?liation in their folders, such as and 12. I have also personally witnessed a true disregard for authority at the schools by a majority of students who do not show reSpect for their teachers, security of?cers or administration. A majority of students address teachers and administrators with great disrespect and are quick to use profanity and foul language toward teachers and staff without regard for consequences. I have observed some of the students dressing alike by wearing the same color shirt and same type of pants or shorts. While they usually do not display numbers or verbiage that would reveal a speci?c gang af?liation, I observe how other students react and move aside when the groups dressed alike walk near them. Based on my training and experience, I believe these groups of students are acting and dressing in concert as a way to intimidate other students and advertise their association. 13. Although we have the gang task force of?cers who come to the school to educate the staff, students, and parents, I still see activity by the students which leads me to believe there is gang activity occurring on campus during school hours. All students at Bobby Duke Middle School have been issued IPads. Through my investigations, I have discovered many of the gangs are using social media as a means to recruit kids to their gangs and glamorize the gang?lifestyle. Students have also admitted to me they used social media to arrange drug transactions. 14. I truly believe there is a need for further gang-related intervention at these schools, if we are to keep these schools safe and free of gang activity. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the following is true and correct. 'kgff/Af?/I ?9 Herlinda Val/enzuel DECLARANT DECLARATION OF HERLINDA VALENZUELA IN SUPPORT OF EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE: PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION 000746