YAKIMA — Several communities in Eastern Washington’s farm belt made headlines last year when they considered or adopted ordinances to outlaw gang membership in response to escalating crime, ranging from graffiti to murder.
Now, the gang problem is going before state lawmakers, who will consider sweeping legislation aimed at steering young people away from joining gangs and combating gang violence.
The bill stems from recommendations by a bipartisan task force that studied the statewide issue last year, but its passage isn’t guaranteed. Some have raised concerns that the proposals could violate civil liberties, such as free speech, while others contend a gang crackdown is long overdue.
The measure has its first public hearing Monday before the House Committee on Public Safety &Emergency Preparedness.
Support for the bill isn’t limited to east of the Cascades. In 2005, Rebecca Lambert’s son and three of his friends were stripped naked, beaten and robbed by gang members at a Spanaway park. Her son, Clifton Nelson, was shot in the back three times when he tried to flee.
“It set the community in shock, because my son wasn’t the gang member. He was just an 18-year-old kid doing what all other 18-year-old kids do,” Lambert said. “Somebody was going to die that night, and it was going to be one of our children.”
Lambert believes the legislation will make a difference, but that it’s only a start.
“It’ll make a difference in the amount of help that police get to curb the issues. It’ll make a difference in the lives of juveniles who are headed down the wrong path,” says Lambert, 41, of the bill. “Ultimately, though, we all have to be a part of the solution.”
Washington isn’t the first state examining its gang problem. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 32 other states in recent years have approved legislation to increase penalties for gang-related crime or to enact suppression, intervention and prevention programs. At least one state, Indiana, bars membership in criminal gangs that require members to commit felonies or battery to join. Numerous states have increased sentences for crimes associated with gang activity.
Ed Cohn, executive director of the National Major Gang Task Force in Indianapolis, finds that many communities are finally acknowledging they have gang problems. Denial is far less rampant than in years past.
Several years ago, the group surveyed the 30 largest county jails in the country about imprisoned gangs. The survey validated 1,625 gangs that were incarcerated, up from just 114 gangs in a similar survey 17 years earlier, Cohn said.
“In less than 20 years, it jumped that much. And to put a number on the individual gang members is a guess,” he said.
Last year, the cities of Yakima, Union Gap and Grandview all approved anti-gang ordinances after the community of Sunnyside, about 30 miles southeast of Yakima, passed a law aimed at cracking down on gang activity. However, some groups raised concerns about the ordinances’ constitutionality, and the state attorney general’s office issued an unofficial opinion that found some language might have to be retooled.
After gang-related measures went nowhere in the Legislature last year, Gov. Chris Gregoire ordered a task force to study the matter.
The process wasn’t easy, said Yakima County Sheriff Ken Irwin, one member of the group. The good thing: it was a diverse group that included lawmakers, law enforcement officers, prosecutors and social service workers, among others.
“The bad thing is that because we just came from very difference backgrounds, it took a while for us to trust one another, to fully understand the needs of the different programs, different people that are out there are affected by gangs,” Irwin said. “It was a difficult process, but I think in the end it produced a very good product that’s a great start for working on this problem.”
The group’s recommendations comprise the new bill, much of which is patterned after laws in other states with similar gang problems, such as California.
The bill would appropriate $10 million to implement five pilot projects throughout the state that would focus on combating criminal street gangs and violence. Another $2 million in grants would help law enforcement agencies target gang crime, and $1 million would go to graffiti and tagging abatement grants. The latter two grant programs would be managed by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.
Under the bill, the Washington State Patrol would create a statewide gang information database that would allow law enforcement agencies statewide to track and identify known gang members. It also would increase sentences for adults who recruit juveniles.
The bill also adopts a criminal street gang definition — a cohesive group, of at least five members, with known criminal practices, among other things — and authorizes civil anti-gang injunctions.
House Republicans believe the bill is a good place to start, said Rep. Charles Ross, R-Yakima, a co-leader of the task force and bill sponsor.
Concerns were raised about whether there was a profiling component to creating a statewide database of known gang members. But Ross said he believes those concerns have been addressed — and that the database also will someday improve the state’s current lack of data on gang crime.
“Some of our members wish there were more direct penalties and stronger sentencing. However, the task force collective recommendation was that this is a very balanced and aggressive step to making a difference,” he said.
Doug Honig of the American Civil Liberties Union said the group had not yet had time to review the 40-page bill. Last year, the ACLU raised concerns about the constitutionality of the Sunnyside ordinance.
But Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee that will hear that bill, said that many of the civil liberty concerns were addressed during the task force process.
“They were willing to let us libertarian types dictate the terms of it because they want it to work, and we want it to work,” said Kline.
“This is not going to be a process that’s going to be easy for a city to do. It’s intended to be difficult. We don’t want to see it abused.”
Rep. Christopher Hurst, D-Enumclaw, said task force members understood their proposals needed to meet constitutional muster.
“We felt it was imperative that the state provide some guidance, definitions of gang membership,” Hurst said. “But really this is an opportunity to say that government can’t come in and solve this problem for you. You as a community will be given the resources, but you have to band together, roll up your sleeves and say, ‘This is our town. This is our community. This is our neighborhood.’ “
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The gang measure is House Bill 2712.
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