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Home My WebLink About07/25/2005 Adjourned Meeting 206 ADJOURNED MEETING JULY 25, 2005 - 6:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M. JOINT STUDY SESSION - UNION GAP CITY HALL CITIES OF YAKIMA AND UNION GAP 1. Roll CaII Present: Yakima: Mayor Paul George, Council Members Ron Bonlender, Neil McClure, Mary Place, Bernard Sims, and Susan Whitman Staff: City Manager Zais, and Acting City Clerk Watkins; Police Chief Sam Granato, and Sgt. Joe Salinas Absent and excused: Council Member Edler Union Gap: Council Members Dave Butler, Dale Glaspey (6:15 p.m.), Pat McDonald, Dan Olson, Kim Owen, Toni Webb, Mayor Aubrey Reeves, Police Chief Bill Silvers, Fire Chief Tom Kehm, and City Clerk Kathryn Thompson Union Gap Mayor Aubrey Reeves called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. 2. Study Session to review Gang Issues Council Member Place, Chair of the Intergovernmental Subcommittee, said that when ' the subcommittee met with Union Gap representatives, it came to the forefront that gang problems affect both cities. She stated the goal of this session is to derive direction on what can be done as a legislative body to assist with gang problems. Yakima Police Chief, Sam Granato, gave an overview of the gang problems. When he was hired in 2003, he noticed a high level of graffiti, a clear indicator of gang activity, considered the "newspaper of the streets ". He recently attended a national conference on gangs that included material on legislation being proposed by Diane Feinstein to fund a nationwide strategy. As large cities start enforcing the gang problem, the smaller communities feel the impact as the activity is displaced. In Central Washington, we started to deal with the problem in 2003 by forming a gang unit, but he emphasized that enforcement alone will never solve the gang problem. We need to identify gang members, leaders, and the violent members and develop intervention strategies. It is necessary to stop kids from joining the gangs with things like the Police Athletic League (PAL), and partnering with the school districts as part of a diversion program to give kids opportunities for alternative activities. Part of the Yakima Gang Unit's job is intelligence gathering; who's fighting with whom. Chief Granato then spoke about gang members going to prison and coming back into the community with a changed philosophy. Street gangs are now moving into more formal gangs with an emphasis on making money. Gang warfare becomes more direct. Recent gang activities have raised the level of concern and have resulted in more cooperation. We have developed a task of agencies that want to participate with trained officers who will identify gang members and exchange information. ADJOURNED MEETING — JULY 25, 2005 JOINT STUDY SESSION Mayor George said he was puzzled by gang violence; perpetrators don't seem to worry about punishment. Chief Granato said gang members have a smile- now - cry -later philosophy. A lot of them don't see a future. He also noted that the juvenile system in this state is lacking as curfews cannot be enforced. The police have to take kids home for felony crimes that an adult would go to jail for because they are not going to be received in a juvenile facility. Elected officials need to be looking at those areas and be willing to fund them. We need immediate consequences for their behavior. Council Member McDonald asked if there is cooperation between the Yakima and Union Gap Police Departments to which Chief Granato responded there is a good working relationship. On their "wish list" to deal with gang problems are a curfew and an improved juvenile system. He related how Corpus Christi, Texas instituted a sales tax for crime control and spent a lot of money on a juvenile curfew and detention center. The city was named an all American city last year and that was one of the reasons why. Council Member McDonald suggested cities prepare a combined request for our legislators to look into that. Mayor Reeves commented that without a place to take the kids, even having another 50 officers between the two cities wouldn't gain anything. Chief Granato clarified that states do not allow juveniles to be placed into the adult system until they are 17 years of age or older. Council Member Olson commented that juveniles have to be 14 years old to go into the juvenile system and if they are under seven they are presumed incapable of committing a crime. In answer to Council questions, Chief Granato said that some of the gang members are illegals and when caught have been deported. They are trying to get the message out that if illegals come here and get into trouble their entire family will be affected. Sergeant Joe Salinas, explained the activities of the gang unit. They have three objectives; identify them, curb their activities, and pass the knowledge on to citizens or anyone else that needs the information. There are approximately 400 gang members that have been identified in the city. The gang unit has been in existence for 19 months to date r1(21 has taken 52 guns off the streets to date. Although gang activity is difficult to stop, if not impossible, they are sending a message to all gang members that we are addressing the problem. Sergeant Salinas then gave a Power Point presentation covering the following: Who they are; Norteno Gangs Sureno Gangs Other City Gangs Tagger crews Why they join What the Gang Unit has accomplished Some interesting notes from the presentation were: • Some gang members are getting older, with strong leaders coming out of prison. • There is a pee wee group starting with 8 -12 yrs old committing crimes • Some tagger groups are now expanding to gang activity. • Group ethnicity: about 1 /4 are illegal, the majority of the gangs are Hispanic in nature (60 -65 %) and they are all fighting each other. 2 208 ADJOURNED MEETING — JULY 25, 2005 JOINT STUDY SESSION Sgt. Salinas explained that tagging can be both gang related or artistic. He also clarified that the juvenile system keeps track of points and those with serious enough infractions get sent to adult court. It is known that the more active a member is in the gang, the higher status they achieve. Most gang members drop out of school before the age of 16.. Council Member Place asked what is needed to be more efficient and effective. Sgt. Salinas responded, more police and the other half of the juvenile facility opened so there can be immediate consequences. Mayor Reeves commented that Yakima County promised to open another juvenile pod if the 3/10 sales tax passed. Council Member McDonald asked what impact a curfew and an enlarged juvenile facility would have to which Sgt. Salinas responded it would send a message and effectively keep them indoors. Chief Granato thanked the two City Councils for meeting on this subject and stated it is not just a local problem. It is growing problem that will continue to grow. Gang members are fertile ground for recruitment; for example, terrorist groups are recruiting prison gang members. We cannot afford to ignore this problem, we need resources, but we're not going to do it alone. It is going to take a community effort as well as legislation. Council Member Place suggested the Councils consider jointly taking legislation forward • to the Association of Washington Cities and Counties. She also advised that she and Chief Granato are on a committee that is looking into how the juvenile facility is run and at different ways of handling it based on the risk assessment of the young people. 3. Adjournment Mayor Reeves adjourned the Joint Study Session at 7:00 p.m. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY ! ��' / d l �� 0 S - COU I MEMBE' RATE a/ 52S ` OUNCI. EMBER DATE ATTEST_ /( 16/ �. , a..„(1 ACTING CITY CLERK PAUL P. GEORGE, M A OR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. An audio and video tape of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office 3