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That's just the way it is when you try to break up gangs, Andrews says. The witnesses are bound to be as bad as the defendants.
"We are rarely able to go to trial in gang cases because of witness reluctance and other problems," Andrews says. "And when we do, it's really painful."
How successful the task force will be in the Temple and the Michael cases is hard to predict. But even if state and federal authorities get everything they want -- if Bernard Temple goes to prison for life, if all 16 Michael organization defendants get heavy sentences -- police familiar with crack gangs say there will always be someone to pick up the slack in Bayview-Hunters Point. There will always be new dealers, and people willing to kill for profit.
"He's just one of many," says an S.F. police officer who is an expert in crack gangs. The officer is talking about Charles Michael, but his words apply even when the gangbanger in question is Bernard Temple, assassin extraordinaire, the one and only Soul-Jacker of San Francisco.
"People have already filled his shoes.
