AP  01/04
By DARA TOM
 Associated Press Writer
   EAST PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) -- Power company crews refuse to work
without a police escort in this small town, where 42 people were
slain in 1992, the highest per capita homicide rate in the country.
   "We're not proud of it, but it's true," said Police Capt. John
Sterling. "We are the murder capital."
   Most of the murders in the city of 23,939 were drug-related,
police said Monday.
   Police say the city, about 30 miles south of San Francisco,
earned an unfortunate reputation as a drive-through drug store
because of its sorely understaffed police department and easy access
to two highways.
   "Right now, because of our staff, we're a reactive police
department. We're under the gun and understaffed," said Detective
Phil Johnson, 28.
   The department has 32 officers, including the chief, and six
reserves. Officials hope to hire four more officers and beef up the
reserve unit to 20.
   Last year's homicide rate of 42 was the equivalent of 175 deaths per 100,000.
The number nearly doubled the 22 slayings committed in 1991.
    By comparison, Oakland across the San Francisco Bay broke its
homicide record with 174 murders last year, or about 46 deaths per
100,000 residents. Washington, D.C., ended up with 448 homicides, or
75 deaths per 100,000.
   "It's hectic. You never have time to investigate one homicide
before you have another one," Johnson said. "Detectives work 40 to
50 hours overtime a week, and that's still not enough."
   Most shifts are covered by four or five patrol officers and a
sergeant. That should be enough for the 2.3-square-mile town,
smaller than some urban police beats, Johnson said.
   Johnson traced East Palo Alto's violent image to Jan. 14, 1992,
when there were 11 shootings in one day. Eight people were wounded
and one died.
   Since then, utility crews have refused to go into the community
without a police escort and the postal service threatened to halt
home delivery.
   "When you read the papers, you get an image of East Palo Alto as
the worst place in America," Johnson said.
   Officer Thomas Alipio said the city has become the drug hub of
the San Francisco Bay-area peninsula.
   "Our dope is cheaper and the quality is a lot better," Alipio
said. Most of the people buying drugs are outsiders, he said.
   Johnson said at least 70 percent of the victims of violent crimes were
engaged in crime. "The majority of people here are good citizens."
   Those numbers were no comfort to resident Conita Bennett.
   "I stay in my house. I don't let my kids out and hurry and get them in before
nightfall," said Bennett, 50. "I'm trying to get out of this area because
somebody's going to get hurt. They're killing each other like dogs."
   But another resident, Joni Jones, 27, who has lived here for
seven years, said the city still is safe for the average citizen.
   "If you're down here not doing anything wrong, nothing's going to
happen to you," Jones said.