[Vision2020] SR: Gang Activity Part I

[keely emerinemix]

Come on, Wayne.

Moscow will never have a gang problem, or an HIV problem, or a teen suicide 
problem, or a domestic violence problem, or a heroin problem, or a gun 
problem, or a meth problem, because Moscow finds these things icky, and so 
will decide to just . . . well . . . not have them.  Not prevent them -- I 
mean, just decide that they're not there.  Most of Moscow is too busy trying 
to keep their heads above water economically, a lot of Moscow is too 
"liberal" to see real-world difficulties, some of Moscow would rather sing 
Psalms and discuss Latin punditry, and a few people in Moscow will grieve 
for what's happening to our children and be insulted when they're gauche 
enough to bring it up for discussion.

In all seriousness, your logic is sound, your concern is well-founded, and 
your effort to sound the alarm is appreciated.

It's never a bad idea to invest in kids -- especially the ones you don't 
know, and particularly the ones you think you wouldn't really want to have 
any contact with.  They're the ones who need us, and they're the ones we 
most fail.

keely


From: "Art Deco" <deco at moscow.com>
To: "Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Subject: [Vision2020] SR: Gang Activity  Part I
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 10:06:19 -0700

This article which appeared Sunday is the first in a series about gangs.  I 
do not know if Moscow/Latah County has a gang or gang related problem, but I 
am concerned about the tagging that has been occurring lately.  Not all 
tagging is done by gang members, but tagging is a gang activity.

Having lived in areas where gang activity was a problem, I can vouch that if 
not stopped at the beginning of an infestation, the results of gang activity 
are destructive and tragic.  I noticed a couple of years ago signs of gang 
activity in Pullman.  I think that LE there is at least aware of the problem 
and is taking measures.

I hope both the MPD and the LCSD are taking the tagging incidents very 
seriously and are also investigating possible gang connections.  Now is the 
time for serious prevention strategies.



Wayne A. Fox
1009 Karen Lane
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID  83843

(208) 882-7975
waf at moscow.com






    Monday, March 19, 2007


Spokane
Street fight
Increasing gang membership and related violence have mobilized Spokane law 
enforcement agencies
Jody Lawrence-Turner
Staff writer
March 18, 2007



             Young men flash gang symbols while socializing near the Spokane 
Transit Authority Plaza. According to the Spokane Police Department's Gang 
Enforcement Team, there are 7,000 gang associates and 900 gang members in 
Spokane. (Jed Conklin)


             Also: How to read gang graffiti

             Photos: More images with this story

             Audio: Spokane Police Officer Mike Roberge, a Gang Enforcement 
Team member, on gang culture, respect and gang members


             Graphic: Gang nations


             Graphic: Gang members in Spokane



The way witnesses tell it, Derek Wilson walked into a downtown skate park 
and fired his semiautomatic handgun.

Police say it was an attempted robbery gone bad.

Behind Wilson's alleged target were homes, a hospital, and Lewis and Clark 
High School. Teens were there, too, that sunny day earlier this month, 
skating under the Interstate 90 viaduct.

Officers arrested Wilson a few blocks away and seized a handgun and crack 
cocaine found in the car he was driving. The 20-year-old, who police say 
associates with a Spokane offshoot of a Chicago-based gang called Folk, was 
charged with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a 
controlled substance.

Luck, or bad aim, prevented the bullet from hitting anyone. Next time, 
someone could be killed - a rival gang member or an innocent bystander, 
perhaps a child.

And make no mistake: There will be a next time.

Spokane has a growing gang problem, police say, a fact they're anxious for 
people outside law enforcement to acknowledge and begin addressing before 
the community starts seeing violence on the scale of gang-saturated Tacoma.

Since summer, police say, the number of confirmed gang members in Spokane 
has risen by 350, to more than 900 members representing some 50 gangs. The 
dramatic increase in recent months is partly due to a concentrated law 
enforcement focus on identifying members.

Almost weekly, police respond to stabbings, drive-by shootings or violent 
assaults they believe are gang-related. The Spokane County Jail typically 
holds more than 600 inmates, and at any time about a quarter are associated 
with gangs, authorities say.

There may be as many as 7,000 "gang associates" - young people who aren't 
documented gang members but who are trying to act like them. Authorities say 
the wannabes are dangerous because they are willing to commit violent crimes 
in order to be initiated into a gang.

"The situation is definitely something that this community needs to address 
now," said Spokane County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Mike Kittilstved. "We still 
have the opportunity to make a huge impact; to make these people go 
elsewhere or to prison."

Authorities say gangs mostly draw teens and young adults - both genders, 
generally between the ages of 14 and 24.

Brant McIver, who police have confirmed is a gang member, said authorities' 
concern is justifiable.

"Drugs are (gangs') business and they have to have guns to protect 
themselves," said McIver, 27, who has about 60 criminal convictions. He was 
released from the Spokane County Jail earlier this month after doing a 
year's time for obstruction of justice and a minor assault.

McIver said he was 14 years old when he and some of his Spokane buddies 
formed a small group of Sureños, a Latino gang.

Being in a gang offers support, togetherness and protection, he said. "We 
hang out together. We fight together. We sell dope together."

A melting pot

Gangs first migrated to Washington in the late 1980s, mainly from 
California. They were hiding from California's more aggressive law 
enforcement and rival gangs, and the move was good for their enterprise - 
selling crack cocaine.

Word spread that the Inland Northwest was an untapped market and it wasn't 
too gang-savvy.

Police say they confirmed 25 gang members in Spokane in 1985.

Since then, the area has become a melting pot of gangs, with members 
migrating here from Chicago, Texas, New York, Las Vegas, St. Louis and 
Georgia, among other places.

Of the 50 recognized gangs in the area, 10 evolved locally, Spokane Police 
Officer Mike Roberge said. Those 50 are subsets of six groups: Crips, 
Bloods, Folk, People, Norteños and Sureños.

The recent surge in gang activity began after the death of Frank Silva, who 
police say was a Crips member, on April 28, 2005.

Dustin A. Davis, who police say is a member of a rival Crips gang, was 
convicted of shooting Silva near Holmes Elementary School. Gang members 
still memorialize Silva through graffiti on rundown garages facing the alley 
where he died.

Spokane authorities became more concerned after seven drive-by shootings 
occurred in January 2006, a time of year when gang activity usually slows 
because of winter weather. That prompted the Spokane County Sheriff's Office 
and Spokane Police Department to dedicate extra officers to gang 
enforcement.

The Gang Enforcement Team, or GET, formed later that year, with the two 
local agencies; the FBI; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, 
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Washington Department of Corrections.

"I think what we've been presented here is an opportunity to be proactive," 
said FBI agent Frank Harrill, a GET member. "It is not yet the type of 
problem other larger cities are experiencing."

Spokane's appeal

Authorities say many gang members come to Spokane to avoid arrest or escape 
death threats from rival gang members. Others come to live with relatives. 
Drugs like methamphetamine and crack bring higher prices here than in cities 
that are less isolated and have more gangs.

"You aren't looking over your shoulder all the time," said 26-year-old 
Josephus McDonald, who police say is a founder of one of Spokane's larger 
homegrown Crips gangs. McDonald was sentenced last month to more than six 
years in prison for attempting to run over an officer. "Spokane is not 
really a gang-bang town," he said in a recent jailhouse interview. Because 
few gangs originated in Spokane, the issue between gang members isn't 
territorial like it is in Tacoma, where organized groups often fight over 
control of city blocks or neighborhood streets.

"There aren't that many prominent 'hoods here," McDonald said.

Tacoma, with nearly the same population as Spokane, has about twice the 
number of gang members, according to the FBI.

Tacoma police logged more than 60 shootings and drive-bys in 2006, and two 
gang members were shot and killed, according to the Tacoma News Tribune.

LaShaii Brown, a 34-year-old former Tacoma Crips member who served 17 years 
in prison for assaults and other crimes, said Spokane is much less dangerous 
than where he spent his youth. Brown said he moved here three years ago to 
get away from his roots. Police, who confirm Brown's gang background, say 
he's stayed out of trouble in Spokane, except for a fight last year.

"They aren't real gangsters" in Spokane, Brown said. "They just shoot when 
they have to because they are out in the streets trying to make money. 
Ninety-nine percent of these kids out here won't die for their gang set."

In denial

Last year, the Spokane County prosecutor's gang team filed 343 felony cases 
and charged 1,633 crimes, said chief criminal prosecutor Jack Driscoll. 
Since the police emphasis began last year, authorities have confiscated more 
than 100 guns and seized several pounds of drugs.

Nearly $1 million from city, county and federal sources is spent annually on 
gang enforcement in this area, authorities said.

Spokane's gang problem was recently brought to the attention of U.S. Sen. 
Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who met with the GET in February.

Earlier this month, the GET team was awarded $95,514 by the U.S. Department 
of Justice to fight gangs.

But authorities believe Spokane-area residents are still in denial about the 
gang problem, and they say solving it no longer can be left up to law 
enforcement alone.

"The community has a bigger role in this than they realize," said 
Kittilstved, who is a GET member. "People can help by providing strong role 
models, good work ethics and not glorifying gang life. People get hurt and 
killed all the time when they are involved in gangs and that destroys 
families."

Society has bombarded kids with music, movies and video games that glorify 
the gang lifestyle. Examples: Snoop Dogg, a rapper and self-proclaimed Crips 
gangster who often sings about the lifestyle; "Grand Theft Auto," a video 
game in which players rise in the ranks of organized crime by committing 
increasingly violent acts; and "The Source" magazine, which shows gang 
members flashing signs on several pages in nearly every issue.

And while many prevention and intervention programs exist in Spokane schools 
for topics like sex, drugs and alcohol abuse, none focuses on gangs.

McIver, the 27-year-old Sureño gang member, said he hopes to stay out of 
trouble so he can help raise his children, ages 2, 4, 6 and 8.

"You can't do anything sitting in this jail for your family," he said.

McIver's advice to teens considering joining a gang: "Join the football team 
instead if you want to belong to a group."

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