More than 70 residents crowded the senior center Tuesday night
to learn about various local gangs and the warning signs they can
look for in adolescents.
More than 70 residents crowded the senior center Tuesday night to learn about various local gangs and the warning signs they can look for in adolescents.
Hugo Del Moral, a gang investigator with the Gilroy Police Department, held up red and blue T-shirts, shanks and guns while explaining to somber-faced parents the hard-to-predict behaviors and tendencies of Gilroy’s gangs. A digital presentation showed pictures of young tattooed men, or “street soldiers,” posing like baseball teams with their fingers twisted to form numbers and signals, and Del Moral attempted to decode different tattoos and slang to help parents remain vigilant. But mannerisms change so often, he said, that even officers struggle to keep up.
“We catch up and learn as we go along,” Del Moral said.
Cpl. Jim Callahan told residents “to look at the whole uniform” of a suspected gang member to get a sense of their identity.
As a bit of encouragement, Chief Denise Turner and other officers also pointed to increased police presence on the streets as a serious contributor to the recent downturn in gang-related violence.
“Hopefully this will be coming to an end pretty quickly,” Del Moral said. “They know right now there’s a lot of heat out on the streets, but it can keep going and going and going.”
A handful of mothers and fathers watched the clean-cut officer wearing a bullet proof vest and listened to him through headphones relaying a Spanish interpreter’s voice. Many rested their hands on their children’s shoulders, some as young as kindergartners, and after a brief question and answer session, a couple dozen kids stood up to play La Bamba as part of Mariachi Juvenil Alma de Mexico, a local group led by Anna Montes.
“This is gang prevention,” Montes said after the performance as she pointed to children holding instruments.
Recreation Supervisor John Garcia reminded parents of the Wheeler Center nearby and the Youth Center’s impending move from the corner of Sixth and Railroad streets to the Senior Center, 7371 Hanna St. The Youth Center will move Feb. 23 and open from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday for kids between 6 and 17 years old.
At the end of the presentation, a boy no older than six asked Del Moral from the back row what “homey” meant, and Del Moral explained the fraternal expression meant friend before asking him, “Are you my homey?”
A brief pause ensued as the boy’s face became blank and the crowd chuckled, and then Del Moral said, “I was hoping you’d say yes.”
Another boy about 11 years old, who declined to give his name, asked Del Moral what it meant when he heard unseen people whistling on his way from school or if there were any gang signs police had noticed on skateboards. Del Moral explained that gang members whistle to each other when police come into their neighborhoods – like birds warning each other of an incoming predator. As for skateboards, Del Moral said he had not noticed anything, but he said recruiters will stoop to low levels to snag a new street soldier and that young girls can also become involved in gangs by holding drugs or guns for their boyfriends.
For this reason, Mano Ahumada, a truck driving instructor at the Center for Employment Training at 7800 Arroyo Circle, encouraged police to work closer with middle schools. Others talked about the constructive power of boxing, and Jason Wilson of Victory Outreach encouraged at-risk youth to visit him at the church across the street from the Senior Center.
“Jesus doesn’t discriminate,” he said.
