Solutions offered in keeping gangs in check

Friday, July 30, 1999 | 10:28 a.m.

The answer to significantly reducing the gang problem in the United States -- perhaps more than the passage of ordinances or increased police action -- may be simple community involvement.

That is the message that came out of seminars Thursday at the National Youth Gang Symposium at the MGM Grand Hotel.

More than 1,100 law enforcement officials, prosecutors, youth service providers and policy makers -- though very few, if any, actual gang members -- attended the three-day convention that concludes today. It is sponsored by the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

"Community collaboration can make you or break you," Donald Kodluboy, a psychologist for Minneapolis, Minn., public schools, said during a seminar on school-based gang programs.

Lisa Regini, special agent in legal instruction for the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., addressed the recent Supreme Court decision that struck down a Chicago law aimed at preventing street gang members from loitering.

She said that while the use of definitive injunctions rather than broad and potentially unconstitutional ordinances may hold up in the courts and thwart gangs from hanging out in public areas, "community involvement may ultimately provide the best results."

John Skipper, a lieutenant with the Redondo Beach, Calif., Police Department, told a huge gathering at the seminar on gang ordinances and injunctions that community-oriented policing and a motivated, competent prosecutor have been essential to his city keeping gangs in check.

He noted that of the 140,000 known gang members in the greater Los Angeles area, about 25,000 live in North Redondo. A few years ago, many of them gathered regularly at one park to conduct drug deals, shoot each other and intimidate area residents.

Use of injunctions against the gang leaders coupled with other police actions and community support like job placement and parenting classes, "were very effective" in resolving the park loitering problem, Skipper said.

Perhaps no group is more synonymous with youth community involvement than the 139-year-old Boys & Girls Clubs of America, which serves 2.8 million youths annually at more than 2,000 clubs around the country.

"First, we provide a safe place where kids can go and feel that they belong," said Frank Sanchez Jr., senior director of delinquency prevention for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Headquarters in Atlanta.

"Next, we develop relationships and assess their needs, whether it is counseling, bilingual studies or even food."

Not only does the organization seek out kids who do not want to join gangs, but also welcomes gang members who want to get out of the cycle of violence.

"Of course we want the gang members," Sanchez said. "We offer them love and help, but we let them know there will be rules and regulations they have to follow.

"And we encourage family involvement with programs like GED classes for parents and Family Swim. One club in California even requires family involvement as part of their children becoming members."

Sanchez said he has toured some of Southern Nevada's Boys & Girls Clubs and was impressed by the quality of programs, especially those dealing with computer technology, and the cleanliness of the facilities.

"Two days ago, I went to the Henderson club and there were 400 kids there having fun," he said. "This place has only been open about 30 days and it already has 600 members who are involved in programs that will make a generational change.

"Their lives are being saved because this is an alternative to gangs, and their standard of life is being raised."