Sky Valley officials seek to stem growth of gangs

Published 10:07 pm Wednesday, June 24, 2009

SULTAN — Community leaders in Sky Valley want to nip a growing gang problem in the bud before more blood is shed.

The town is struggling to come to grips with the brutal killing of a Marysville teenager that took place just steps from City Hall last week. Five young people from Sultan who police say belong to a gang called Brown Pride Soldiers were arrested in connection with the slaying.

More than 250 people gathered Tuesday night in a camp meeting hall in Sultan to question police officials and city leaders. They wanted to know what happened and what they should do next.

“When I was elected, I recognized that we had a gang presence in this community,” Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick said. “I didn’t want that problem to become a crisis. We are not going to reach crisis stage in this community.”

Sultan’s troubles with gangs are not new or unusual, officials at the meeting said. Communities up and down the I-5 corridor and across America are waging similar battles.

The community has attempted to deal with gangs by educating the public with meetings, including one at the middle school a few months ago, said Dave Wood, director of services for the Western Washington Sky Valley Community Resource Center. Only a half-dozen people showed up.

Police have identified 52 different gangs with as many as 1,200 members across Snohomish County, said Lt. Rick Hawkins, a sheriff’s office gang unit member.

That doesn’t mean the people of Sultan can’t do something to slow the tide.

The solution has to come from within the community, Lovick said. That may mean people getting to know the kids who live in their neighborhood and speaking up when someone sees inappropriate behavior. Lovick said in his own life, the thing that kept him from gangs were the relationships he had with other people that kept him “turning right instead of left.”

“We all have to engage ourselves in the lives of these people,” he said. “They are looking for leadership from us.”

People in the community have to find ways to give kids solutions so they don’t have to join a gang, he said.

Simply lecturing young people about the dangers of gangs won’t work, said Chuck Whitley with Cocoon House in Everett, which serves homeless youths.

Whitley spoke Tuesday at a gang informational meeting in Monroe organized by leaders in the Hispanic community.

Kids primarily are motivated to join gangs to feel a sense of belonging, he said. Adults need to talk to kids, find out what will make them feel connected to the community in a more positive way, Whitley said.

Leaders are already trying to marshal change. The city is setting up a steering committee to come up with ideas to help raise kids, Sultan Mayor Carolyn Eslick said. At the end of the meeting, about 30 people had signed up to volunteer. Anyone else who’d like to help can contact the Volunteers of America, she said.

The city is already tossing around ideas such as parenting classes, counseling, workshops for seniors who want to get involved and maybe day care, she said.

Friday the city has a meeting planned just for teenagers to discuss what happened. It’s set for 5:30 p.m. at the Volunteers of America Sky Valley Resource Center, 701 First St., Sultan. The mayor has asked that media representatives not attend so kids can feel comfortable.

Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com