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With the city's black community, growing immigrant population - many of whom do not speak English - combined with the city's social issues, "It's not long before you have black-on-brown crime," said Matthews. "And we're seeing the beginning of that."
Matthews, who first spoke publicly about the problem last fall, spoke candidly on the issue Thursday during a community crime meeting.
Matthews said African Americans are targeting Hispanics who are vulnerable. The victims do not speak English and often do not report crimes to the police out of fear their immigration status will be questioned, he said.
African Americans are responsible for robbing, assaulting and raping Hispanics, as well as invading their homes, Matthews said.
"A segment of our community - the African American community - is preying on them," he said.
Matthews said some immigrants do not trust the police in their home countries and the mindset travels with them here.
"They view police as a criminal gang and rightfully so. And they're afraid if they call the police, someone in their family will be deported," Matthews said.
The fear causes crime victims to keep quiet. Therefore, Matthews said, police only know about a fraction of the crimes against Hispanics.
If the issue is not dealt with soon, Matthews said, the city could face the worst crime it has ever seen when Hispanic victims or their relatives resort to forming notoriously violent gangs, like MS-13, to defend their community.
"If we don't get our arms around this problem, organized gangs will fill the vacancies," Matthews said. "There is no violence that's happened in this city that can compare to the violence that could take its place."
To address the language barrier, Matthews recently hired four Spanish-speaking officers.
"That's one of the reasons we tried so hard to get Spanish-speaking officers - we couldn't speak to them. We had to use an interpreter," Matthews said outside Thursday's meeting. "Members of the Hispanic community have come up to me and said thank you because they were able to pull an officer to the side and speak to them."
Matthews said he is putting together an advisory board of Hispanic residents. The panel, he said, will recommend police procedures that would enable immigrants to report incidents without fear of deportation.
The Hispanic population has been steadily growing throughout the county for years. Most Hispanic immigrants in the county are from Mexico, experts say.
Aida Garcia, director of social services for nonprofit La Comunidad Hispana, said she was not surprised to hear about the activity in Coatesville.
"I think this is happening all over right now - all over the county," Garcia said. "This has been happening for a while, except people haven't been talking because they were afraid. This is nothing new."
Immigrants are easy targets, Garcia said, because they often keep the cash from payday in their wallets or their homes. With no Social Security card, immigrants are unable to deposit the cash into a bank account. And the criminals know it.
"A lot of people target them - they know that," Garcia said. "They will go into their homes and steal their money."
And, she said, the more the economic level drops, the more the problem grows.
"It's faster to break into a house. It's easier to target them (than to get a job)," she said. "The more people can't find jobs, the more these people are at risk."
After the crime, often immigrant victims do not report it to police, she said.
"They're afraid to report to the police because if they don't have the legal status they're afraid of being sent back," she said. "They're always hearing about (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) returning people to their home countries."
Garcia said Mexicans come to Chester County to earn money for their families still living in their native country. Young Mexicans come here and mail money back to their parents, she said. And with the high cost of living, she said many immigrants work multiple jobs to support their families.
"What little money they have is just enough for them to survive here," Garcia said. "The younger Mexican immigrants say, 'If I don't send money to Mexico, my parents will die of starvation because there are no jobs in Mexico.'"
Garcia said her organization constantly urges victims to report incidents to local police.
"We tell them to call the police. Even if they're not citizens they have the right to be protected by the law. Their motive is to protect them," she said. "We tell them, 'You go and report these crimes. If someone breaks into your house - call 911.'"
Garcia said it's possible the attacks could prompt the formation of Hispanic gangs.
"It's a horrible feeling walking in fear ... It's a difficult life for a lot of these families," she said.
To prevent gang formation, she said Coatesville needs more after-school programs for the Hispanic youth. Additionally, she said parents need to step up.
"We try to support parents. They have to be responsible, know where their children are and get their children involved in after-school programs to keep them busy so they don't get into trouble," Garcia said. "You need to know where your children are at all times."
In West Chester, two Hispanic males were beaten and robbed by a group of black males May 21, police said. One victim suffered multiple broken bones to his face, according to police.
One suspect, Ronald E. Lawson, 19, of Chester, was arrested two days later and faces robbery, aggravated assault and related charges, police said.
West Chester Detective Sgt. Louis DeShullo said the case is the only recent one of its kind to be reported in the borough.
DeShullo said law enforcement is aware immigrants can easily become victims of crime.
"It's general law-enforcement knowledge that illegal immigrants are susceptible as victims of crime because of their illegal status. Their lack of biographical history and understanding of the English language and fear of being deported are making them targets of street thugs," DeShullo said. "However, when the immigrants are committing the crimes their weaknesses as victims turn to strengths in hindering their apprehensions."
In the 1980s and early 1990s, black and white American citizens - mostly juveniles - were frequently targeting local migrant workers, according to Kennett Square Police Chief Ed Zunino.
"There was a serious problem, and it was because of the victims' lifestyles," Zunino said.
For example, he said, if a migrant worker went out to a local bar, had a few drinks and then walked home, other bar patrons would know he had a pocket full of cash and would jump him.
"That was a problem back then. But since then migrant workers have adopted more safe lifestyles," Zunino said.
He said immigrants began to travel in groups or by car. They started avoiding risky areas like the railroad tracks at night. They also started carrying less cash and using local banks.
"They were aware that when they went out people were watching them," Zunino said.
The Kennett Square Police Department has three Spanish-speaking officers and a few Spanish-speaking parking-enforcement officers, Zunino said.
He urged immigrants living in the borough to call police when they become crime victims. Zunino said his department does not turn victims over to Immigration. Actually, he said, the department needs the victims to stay in the area until the related case is dealt with.
"We need them for successful prosecution of the case," Zunino said. "Regardless of their legal status, they don't have to fear coming to police."
The department, he said, sees the usual assault cases - domestics or juvenile fights, which are sometimes gang related.
"We have always had some problems. I don't think specific Hispanic problems," Dampman said.
However, Dampman agreed with other officials and said Hispanics tend to be reluctant to report incidents to police.
"We try to encourage them to contact us when they have problems," he said. "I think it's been getting better over the years. We try to explain it's necessary to contact us to correct the problem."
But the station has not noticed any pattern or frequency to indicate a problem in the Hispanic community.
"I don't think the Hispanic community is being targeted any more than any other ethnicity," he said.
But, he acknowledged the crimes may be underreported.
The Avondale barracks has a handful of personnel who speak Spanish, Monthei said.
To contact staff writer Jennifer Miller, send an e-mail to jmiller@dailylocal.com.
