Harassment of Teenagers in Graton

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Harassment of Teenagers in Graton

July 6, 1997

In the past several months there has been an escalation of unnecessary harrassment of local Graton teenagers by Sonoma County Sheriff deputies. The justification for this is that there is a "gang problem" in Graton. This is not true and I ask acting Sheriff Jim Piccinini to show us a reason for these policies and also to make public the list of those they have identified as gang members in the surrounding Graton area.

I am the grandmother of three teenagers that live right in downtown Graton. They have known most of the kids in and about town for years because they have lived in the area most of their lives. There is no gang problem in Graton but there is a rich developer who has bought up many buildings in Graton and doesn't think that poor Mexican laborers or "lazy" (most of them are employed) teenagers are good for the new wannabe gentrified image. Alot of the teenagers do gather together in town to socialize. So do the Mexican laborers. So what?! That does not make them a gang.

Several months ago while John Sully was the acting sheriff I complained to him about a particular deputy named Foche because I had heard from the kids that he was especially belligerent and very disrespectful in his manner toward them. My grandson got a ticket about a year ago from this man for sitting next to a cigarette butt that wasn't his. Dillon let it go (bad move) because he felt he hadn't done anything wrong and didn't fully understand the consequenses of ignoring a ticket. He does now. At the point it went into collection, when my daughter finally found out about it, he was no longer allowed to see a judge until it went to warrant. Most of these kids are students from very modest families.

These tickets can go into the 100's of dollars and many of them are for very trivial things like not wearing a seatbelt or littering and in some cases for nothing except the deputies own imagination.

When I talked to John Sully he was very nice to me and promised to look into it. Then I got a call from another deputy who also talked to my daughter. Since then we have heard nothing so it is unclear if anyone talked to Deputy Fochia or if an investigation of him ever happened. The harrassment, however, has continued.

On the night of July 3 my 15 year old granddaughter was watching the Analy fireworks at the Graton Graveyard with about 10 other young people. They were not causing a scene or even being rowdy when the deputies pulled up. They were ticketed for loitering (9-4 SCC) in the graveyard. Deputy Foche was there along with Deputy Bone. Some of the kids ran. The ones that didn't run were ticketed and then two of the young girls (including my granddaughter) were told to walk home (it was dark-around 10:00 P.M.) The other four were told to squeeze into the front of the pickup (not that many seatbelts and in itself illegal) & drive home. I am outraged at many levels but especially by our so-called public servants having those young girls walk home in the dark.

These kids were also told that they cannot gather in more than groups of three. Why???

Then on the evening of July 4 an unmarked car belonging to the Sonoma County Gang Task Force came to my daughters home in Graton and took my 18 year old grandson to jail for his unpaid warrant. It's true that he should have dealt with it at the ticket stage and hopefully he has learned that lesson but why are so many of these kids being ticketed and stopped in the first place?

And why is the Sheriff taking such an overkill approach with these kids? It wasn't necessary to send the Gang Task Force after Dillon. What a stupid use of taxpayer money. And why in this particular community at this particular time? My grandson has a Spanish surname – Chavez. His father is from Mexico. When he was going through the booking process he was asked to identify himself as Norteño or Sureño. He told them that he did not claim any gang colors, that he was not in a gang. They acted as though they did not believe him. Fortunately my daughter bailed him out before he had to face going in with either side. I want to challenge the assumption that all teenage boys with Spanish surnames are gang members. Is that a regular policy assumption of the Sheriff Dept.?

Sadly, Deputy Frank Trejo, who was killed last year, used to patrol Graton and he had a very good relationship with the young people. He treated them with respect and in turn they got to know a good human being in law enforcement. What a concept!!!

Neither of my grandkids has ever been in trouble with the law. Dillon just graduated from El Molino and Emile is a good student who works two jobs. She's a motivated and hard working young woman. She was watching the fireworks in the Graton graveyard with her friends and for that she was ticketed and told to walk home in the dark instead of going back in the vehicle she came in.

What I have just related about two of my grandchildren are only a couple of examples of what is happening in Graton. I know there are others because I've talked to some of the other kids. If the Sheriff really wants to serve the Graton community he will investigate Deputy Fochia and other Rambo wannabees and talk to the kids who have been involved. He will also let anyone that questions it know that both Mexican laborers and teenagers have the right to gather and socialize in THEIR town without being harrassed by law enforcement.

I would ask anyone reading this to please contact me if you have any anecdotal evidence to share or if you have suggestions on how we can deal with this situation. I can be reached at 874-2248 or 829-2417.

Mary Moore • P.O. Box 296, Occidental 95465 • mailto:justice3@sonic.net