Last week’s brazen gang murder two blocks from the police
department should have come as no surprise. Graffiti has been
increasing for the last couple of years; gang colors have been more
prevalent for the last six months or more. The good news is old
news: Gilroy stopped gang activity 15 years ago. We can stop it
again.
Last week’s brazen gang murder two blocks from the police department should have come as no surprise. Graffiti has been increasing for the last couple of years; gang colors have been more prevalent for the last six months or more. The good news is old news: Gilroy stopped gang activity 15 years ago. We can stop it again.
Four groups have an interest in the issue, and all four can work to stop it. The first group is the gang members themselves. A gang member can leave the gang. This is harder than leaving, say, the Rotary Club, because the Rotary does not kill you for leaving. The gang world is a world apart, an intensely hierarchal world apart. Its virtues are courage and loyalty. Its rites of passage are committing murder and doing prison time. But people do leave gangs and live to tell about it, often by finding Jesus.
Victory Outreach has a special mission for gangs, but Trinity Bible, South Valley Community, and New Hope all have ex-gang members in their congregations who can counsel a gang member and pray for him and his family as he makes the dangerous journey out. Leaving the gang world is hard, but staying gets one three bullets and a yellow tarp.
The second group consists of the parents, family, and supporters of gang members. If the gang member is a minor, the parents can supervise. One of the blog posts on this topic last week said that parents can’t know where their kids are every minute. Most parents do not need to know, because when most kids are naughty, they TP someone’s house or explore the storm drains. But if a kid is involved with gangs, parents can figure out a way to supervise that kid every minute, or they can pack up the kid and move him away from the gang network to Kentucky or Montana, or they can hold a car wash to pay for funeral expenses. People who support their grown children who are gang members have similar options. Such parents can forbid gang colors and gang involvement and drugs. They can demand their grown children get jobs and pay rent. Or they can boot their grown children out. It is heartbreaking, but not as heartbreaking as erecting a roadside shrine.
The third group consists of neighbors, schools, and other citizens. Property that is vandalized with gang graffiti should be painted over immediately. Gang activity should be reported to the police with lots of detail, including names, dates, times, vehicle license plate numbers – pictures are particularly helpful.
If the gang members live in section 8 housing, report them. Section 8 does not want to support criminal activity. Students who show up at school in gang colors should be forced to change into ugly pink shirts and flip-flops. Citizens cannot be chicken. All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
The fourth group is the police. The Gilroy Police Department has a good track record with gang suppression. Two areas could use some improvement. Specifically, two months ago, I called the non-emergency number at the GPD. I told the woman that I wanted to talk to someone knowledgeable about gangs, because my neighbor had shown up on my doorstep wearing red and black, and I wanted to figure out if she was involved in gangs. The woman connected me with a dispatcher. The dispatcher was impatient and dismissive. She barely listened to my description and repeated it back wrongly.
Fortunately, a few days later I ran into Sgt. John Sheedy, who answered my question with one of his own and gave me great information. “What about her shoes?” he asked. I couldn’t remember her shoes. She might have been barefoot. Sgt. Sheedy explained that shirt color alone was not an indicator, that gang colors would probably include shoes or shoe laces or a handkerchief in the back pocket. Another indicator was people in gang colors assembling. I am sure that the GPD has someone available who is knowledgeable about gangs. The non-emergency operator should refer inquiries to that person. And dispatchers should not brush off citizen inquiries. The GPD cannot quell gang activity single-handed.
