Photograph by Georgr Sakkestad
Green talks with one of his young probationers.
By NATASHA COLLINS
The boy had been in a fight.
One of the combatants involved was nursing a wound after being struck in the head with a crowbar. Another boy, who lives in Sunnyvale, had been found in possession of a machete.
That's why Mike Green--a county probation officer with the department's gang division--was out here now, searching the night for the boy's home on the northern side of town.
After some trial and error, he found the apartment above a burrito shop on the edge of Sunnyvale's industrial section. A baby's cry drifted out an open window as he walked up the unlit, concrete stairs and down a dark hallway.
The young man's bed was in the kitchen, next to the sink in a cramped, one-bedroom apartment. His parents were recent immigrants and did not speak much English, so his aunt was there to translate.
Most of Green's probationers are 13 to 18 years old. When Green's football-player frame enters a room, the teens' attitudes change from tough to meek. Many are visibly nervous, not looking him directly in the eye and not speaking above a whisper.
"It was just self defense," the first-time offender says. "Am I not allowed to protect myself? I am not a gang member."
Green tells the young man that if he hadn't been hanging out with gang members, he would not be in this kind of trouble now. It was for this reason, Green informs him, he would no longer be associating with those friends.
Green talked with the boy for almost an hour, asking about his family life, warning him about safe sex and probing for information about other probationers.
"If you talk to people and listen, you can find out what's really going on," he says.
Green, who has a master's degree in criminal administration and a bachelor's in psychology, sees his role as being part parental figure, part supporter, part disciplinarian and part friend.
He travels all over Santa Clara County, mainly in the cities of Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Cupertino and San Jose, to visit his probationers.
Although every situation is different, Green points out a trend--most offenders come from broken, low-income homes where there is not a dominant male figure. According to Green, however, gangs are not limited to low-income families.
"You'd be surprised who's involved with gangs," Green said. "There are a lot of clean-cut individuals also involved in gang activity."
Green handles both juvenile and adult offenders who have been involved in violent gang activity. His probationers have committed such crimes as stabbings, shootings, fighting and drug dealing, while being involved with gangs.
It is because of his probationers' affiliations that they have been placed under "intense supervision," meaning they must meet with Green face to face twice a month. Other offenders have much less contact with their probation officers.
Earlier that night, Green was at a home just across the city limits on Mountain View's California Street. The apartment complex, near a Target store, is notorious for being an area where gang members hang out and party, he says.
"You can drive by here almost any night and hear the rap music coming out of the rooms," Green says as he points out the remains of a marijuana cigarette. "There has been some real wild [stuff] happening here. Shootings, stabbings, drug deals--you name it."
The probationer he visits here is a 17-year-old, 220-pound gang member. He says he's been sleeping wherever he can--on his sister's floor with her two young daughters, in his car, at a friend's house or a hotel. He owns two pairs of pants, one shirt and a pair of shoes. He also has a 16-year-old girlfriend who has a baby due in November.
"He can be a real mean S.O.B.," Green says. "But his life has been hard, and he has had to be hard to survive. All my probationers are survivors."
Green speaks to each of his offenders about their daily lives and problems. He jokes around with them and seems to know every detail of their lives, including who their friends are, where they've been hanging out and who their latest girlfriends are.
He speaks as a friend and with respect. But as soon as a teen raises his voice or talks back, Green's attitude changes from friend to disciplinarian.
"I am the only parent-type figure many of these guys have," Green said. "They know I treat them with respect and give them lots of chances. They also know that if they screw up, they have me to answer to."
From California he drives to Latham Avenue, where he meets up with a 16-year-old probationer who had just returned from a youth correctional center. The boy's mother and father say their son has been well-behaved since his return. He is no longer hanging out with his gang friends and he has been doing well in school, his mother says. The young man says he learned to appreciate what he had while he was incarcerated.
"It's better being home," the probationer says. "You have freedom. People aren't always watching and yelling at you."
Green keeps in touch with many of his ex-probationers because he has become their friends. They know they can turn to him for support and advice, he said. The hardest thing for him is knowing someone will "not make it" or finding out they have been killed.
Green not only has to worry about keeping his probationers on the straight and narrow, but he is also involved in their families and social lives. He speaks with their parents and significant others to help guide them and to learn more about what is going on in his parolees' lives.
"It's hard sometimes because a lot of times you have to parent the parent," he said. "They just don't know how to be a parent or how to discipline."
Green requires each of his probationers to be in their homes by 10 p.m., to either have a job or go to school, to respect their families, and to stay away from gang members. Some probationers are also required to get counseling and check in with him on a weekly basis.
"Some people call me mean because of all my rules," Green said. "I am just trying to point them on the right path."
Green is also involved in crime prevention. He helped start a program called the "I Can Olympics," a once-a-year event in which anyone between the ages of 13 and 20 can participate. It exposes young adults to options other than gang activity, such as sports and schooling. There are several competitions for those participating, including speech and debate and pie-eating contests.
"I really believe in prevention," Green said. "By the time a kid is 16 or 17, it is usually too late. This program shows them what they can do in a positive way."
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, October 2, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.