OPD seeks funding for gang officer
Ontario Budget Committee refers matter to revenue board
By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Sunday, March 23, 2008 3:21 AM PDT
Ontario - The issue of the increasing gang problem may find a new color in its ranks — green.
The Ontario Police Department is continuing its search for funding to combat the increasing issue of gangs in Ontario.
OPD Capt. Mark Alexander restated his request for a gang officer at the Ontario Budget Committee’s meeting Wednesday night.
“We do need a gang officer,” Mayor Joe Dominick said at a special City Council meeting Feb. 27. “It’s the communities without one that have their problems get bigger.”
Alexander said gang activity has increased in recent years and interaction between cities and towns has helped to facilitate the growth.
“There is more affiliation among other cities in the Treasure Valley,” he said. “The gangs are more organized and larger. We find all these connections. We find that they associate with other people in other cities, flee from other cities to here and from here to other cities.”
As for the city locations, Alexander says it runs the gamut.
“Any other city, you name ‘em,” he said. “Clear to Boise, Twin Falls.”
Though the budget board sent Alexander’s request to the revenue committee to find funding options for the project, Ontario still has resources to learn more about gangs and how they operate.
“Gang issues come in waves,” Ontario Middle School Resource Officer George Tolman said. “Right now we’re on a wave. It can last for a little while.”
Alexander said OPD fights gangs by learning more about the members themselves.
“We make criminal cases when we can,” he said. “They’re organized, so we work on some of their leadership through intelligence gathering and getting information so we can find them.”
Tolman said a lack of fathers and father-figures can contribute to the wave. Gang members and potential gang members look toward gangs for male guidance they may not be able to find at home.
“I’ve been dealing with gang issues for 14 years,” Tolman said. “I’ve seen that up front, being an SRO.”
One way the middle school is combating the gang issue is through uniforms, by attempting to eliminate visual gang affiliation.
“That’s one of the reasons the uniforms are so effective,” Tolman said. “They can’t stand out in gang attire, can’t hide gang stuff in the way they’re dressed. Can’t show who they’re with.”
However, even with the uniforms, Tolman points to the deeper societal issues that result in gangs.
“They are looking for families, which the gang offers them,” he said. “There is also the poverty issue and the education issue. Is the parent strongly enforcing children to do better in school or are they allowing them to fail?”
He also said that gang members start to see teachers as an unwanted authority figure. This causes them to stop doing homework and drop out of school. He also said that gang membership tends to lead to a life of crime, even early in life.
“If someone joins a gang when they are in sixth grade, they will have been arrested an average of 10 times by the time they are in ninth grade,” he said.
He also mentioned a 16-year-old who has been arrested 80 times.
“That’s on the far right though,” he said. “Ten times is the average.”
As for other causes of the increasing gang issues, Tolman said the media perpetuates the gang lifestyle.
“The media promote it,” he said. “It’s in rap music, the gangster attitude, it promotes the gang mentality. Rap companies, clothing companies and video games try to show that it’s cool to be a gang member.”
Tolman acknowledged some may feel gang populations are tied to illegal immigration but said that opinion isn’t relevant to Ontario.
“Some people think it’s immigration, but I haven’t seen it,” he said. “A lot of the kids that are joining are first- and second-generation members of the community.”
Though there are many causes for the gang problem, Tolman, through the Gang Resistance Education and Training program, hopes to provide a solution.
“It’s a 13-lesson program to teach kids about self-esteem and making the right decisions,” he said. “I can tell them what it’s all about, let them know the negative things about gangs.”
The program, which is not currently offered because it is transitioning to include more students, has been in effect since the 1996 to 1997 school year.
Tolman also said there are ways the public can get involved to combat the gang issue.
“Become a mentor to these kids that don’t have a father,” he said. “They need to do something positive, in the neighborhood and in the school.”
