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<TD align=right><FONT face="tahoma, sans-serif" size=2>Monday,
March 19, 2007</FONT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR>
<DIV class=label>Spokane</DIV>
<H2>Violence becomes part of neighborhood life</H2>
<H4 class=deck></H4>
<P class=byline><SPAN class=name>Sara Leaming </SPAN><BR>Staff writer<BR>March
19, 2007</P>
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<P><STRONG>Also:</STRONG> <A
href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=9184">How
to read gang graffiti</A></P>
<P><STRONG>Photos:</STRONG> <A
href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/inc/photo_slideshow.asp?showid=239">More
images with this story</A></P>
<P><STRONG>Audio: </STRONG>Spokane Police Officer Mike Roberge, a
Gang Enforcement Team member, on <A
href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/media/audio/022707_gangs1.mp3">gang
culture</A>, <A
href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/media/audio/022707_gangs2.mp3">respect</A>
and <A
href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/media/audio/022707_gangs3.mp3">gang
members</A></P>
<P><IMG
src="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/live/031807_gangs_t.gif"
border=0><BR><A
href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/live/031807_gangs.gif">Graphic:
Gang nations</A></P>
<P><IMG
src="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/live/031907_gangs_t.gif"
border=0><BR><A
href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/live/031907_gangs.gif">Graphic:
Gang members in
Spokane</A></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P>In the alley where he died, a small shrine stands for Frank Joseph Silva: a
fence littered with plastic flowers, teddy bears and empty beer bottles.</P>
<P></P>
<P>The memorial is a daily reminder for the residents in Spokane's West Central
neighborhood of violence spawned from a growing gang population.</P>
<P></P>
<P>It's been nearly two years since 17-year-old Silva, whose street name among
fellow Crips was Foota Loc, was shot point-blank in the forehead by Dustin Allen
Davis, who police say is a member of a rival Crips gang.</P>
<P></P>
<P>Davis, who was 18 at the time, is serving a 41-year prison sentence for
Silva's murder. While he's been in prison, the number of gang members in Spokane
has grown by about 400, police say. And many of them are in West Central, an
impoverished area rife with crime.</P>
<P></P>
<P>"Nothing has gone away. If anything, it's worse now," said Connie Copeland
Malone, a West Central resident. "The work to be done here is huge."</P>
<P></P>
<P>Copeland Malone is part of a steering committee of West Central community
leaders who – tired of escalating violence, problems with drugs and other crimes
– have established a project aimed at helping at-risk youths in the
neighborhood.</P>
<P></P>
<P></P>
<P>But a year after Project HOPE was formed, interest in the grass-roots effort
appears to be waning. Community members who were initially involved said they've
seen too many meetings and too little action toward the group's goal of helping
teens avoid lives of crime. Active members, however, say they're making
progress, and will soon have gym night once a week at a church to give kids a
healthy outlet.</P>
<P></P>
<P>"We have not died; we want to move ahead wisely," Copeland Malone said. "We
don't want to advertise something that may backfire."</P>
<P></P>
<P>Project HOPE was formed out of concern from nearby Holmes Elementary School,
where officials saw children using gangs as a way to socialize.</P>
<P></P>
<P>They saw Silva being immortalized by kids a year after his death. Graffiti
bearing his name was – and continues to be – painted across dilapidated garages
and fences.</P>
<P></P>
<P>After the teen's funeral in April 2005, a group gathered in Cannon Park to
play a rap song created for him, drink alcohol and smoke dope. They gathered for
a picture so the moment could be relived. The picture now appears frequently on
MySpace.com to memorialize their "fallen solda," who "put it up for his
hood."</P>
<P></P>
<P>"I kept saying, 'This is a bad thing; this is a benchmark,' " said Gary
Cooper, one of about a dozen resource officers in Spokane schools – security
officers who have police training and work closely with law enforcement.</P>
<P></P>
<P>"Kids are living this whole life like they are soldiers in this gangster
game, and they don't have the adults to push them out of it. It's very
concerning."</P>
<P></P>
<P>At Holmes, soon after the funeral, students began flashing gang signs through
the cyclone fence on the playground.</P>
<P></P>
<P>Some came to school wearing T-shirts that featured a photo of Silva's body in
his casket. Someone had posed the body, forming his hands into a gang
symbol.</P>
<P></P>
<P>"We thought, 'This is sick; this is awful,' " said Holmes Principal Steve
Barnes. "We decided instead of being reactive, we wanted to be proactive."</P>
<P></P>
<P>Silva and Davis were once students at the school and known to many in the
Holmes community.</P>
<P></P>
<P>"In this neighborhood, everyone is really interconnected," Barnes said.</P>
<P></P>
<P>But soon, the problems at the school subsided, and Holmes staff, once leaders
in the anti-gang movement, are now observers. West Central leaders took over the
effort, and a steering committee still meets once a month.</P>
<P></P>
<P>"We kind of stepped back because we realized it was way bigger than we were
willing to be involved in and take on," Barnes said.</P>
<P></P>
<P>Copeland Malone said it's been hard to keep everyone involved, and success
will require help from schools, police, businesses, churches and other community
institutions.</P>
<P></P>
<P>Project HOPE examined anti-gang programs in other cities, established a
mission statement and is one of 11 groups citywide sharing a $300,000 grant from
Community Minded Enterprises, a nonprofit based in Spokane. The organization
works with community groups to address health-care access, issues with
disabilities, child care, jobs, gun violence and mental health.</P>
<P></P>
<P>To get started, Project HOPE expects to begin hosting an open gym this month
in a West Central church one night a week for basketball and socializing. "God's
gym" would serve as an umbrella for referrals to social service agencies and
ministries, as well, Copeland Malone said. The group itself won't provide
services, but can act as a clearinghouse.</P>
<P></P>
<P>Alvin Moreno, pastor of Victory Outreach, a Hillyard-based ministry involved
with the West Central effort, said he can relate to the troubled teens because
he was a gang member in California.</P>
<P></P>
<P>"There's a lot of people that really want help, starting with the young
people. If nobody takes the time to work with them, they are going to continue
doing what they are doing," Moreno said.</P>
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