Willow Glen Resident
News
Parents get the 411 from police on gang awareness prevention
By Alicia Upano
San Jose and Campbell police are asking parents to help stop gang violence before it begins, and they want to reach out to families while their children are still young.
To accomplish this, the San Jose Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force and California Youth Outreach sponsored a gang awareness training for parents at Rosemary Elementary School, which is part of the Campbell Union School District.
California Youth Outreach executive director Tony Ortiz educated community members on typical gang lifestyles and how to detect telltale signs of gang affiliation.
"A lot of people say, 'I don't know any gangs; I don't live in an area with any gangs; why do I have to worry about gangs?' " Ortiz said. "Denial is the hardest thing. No one wants gangs in their area; no one wants to know there are gang members in the family."
The gang landscape in California has changed since the mid-1990s, Ortiz said. Today, middle school students are getting organized and becoming violent; it's not just at the high school level. Unlike the gang fights of years past, violent incidents are more likely to be conducted in public and cause fatalities to innocent bystanders, Ortiz added.
Even communities such as San Jose, dubbed the safest big city in the United States, have substantial gang problems. In the Willow Glen area, parts of the Gardner neighborhood and near Alma Avenue continue to have a gang presence, San Jose Police Western Division Capt. Richard Fairhurst said.
In Campbell, the area around Nido Drive and Adler Avenue had a growing gang population before a police intervention last year. Children frequently join gangs in middle school--including those attending Campbell Middle School--and these rival gangs are apparent on local high school campuses, including Westmont High School, Sgt. Dan Livingston said.
The two cities also have an eye on the gang area near Cadillac Drive and Eden Avenue, which borders Campbell. Rosemary Elementary School sits just west of Eden Avenue, which is why San Jose scheduled the training at the school, Fairhurst said. San Jose wanted to reach out to families where it was needed the most.
Ortiz, an ordained minister and ex-gang member, said youth frequently join gangs for protection during school and after school when their parents are working. They also seek excitement, identity and economic opportunity, he said.
In Campbell, Livingston and Ortiz said gangs frequently sell drugs and commit burglary and car and identity theft to purchase weapons and high-ticket items.
One of the first signs of gang affiliation can be clothing. Beyond the typical red and blue, Livingston said parents should take notice if their child and their friends place importance on wearing particular colors and promote a uniformed look. Red San Jose Sharks jerseys are also typical gang wear, particularly if the child is not a hockey fan, Livingston said.
In addition, parents need to look for body modifications, such as tattoos or, in the case of Asian gangs, "branding."
"The first thing they like to do is get tatted up," Ortiz said, explaining that tattoos including the numbers 13 and 14, and their Roman numeral equivalents stand for California's largest rival gangs. The area code 408 is used to claim gang territory in this area. Parents should also look for these markings drawn in their children's school books, binders and in their rooms.
The use of hand signals, graffiti, nicknames and slang are also typical behavior, he said.
Likewise, Ortiz recommends monitoring computer use, as many gangsters maintain MySpace pages and engage in "cyber banging." Teenagers also use text messaging to discreetly spread gang-related information while in class or at home.
Ortiz recommends getting involved by paying attention to their schoolwork, and getting to know their friends and their friends' parents. Getting children involved in after-school activities through the city, school, community organizations and religious organizations is also a good option, Ortiz said.
"Join the PTA," he said. "Show your child you care."
At the very least, Ortiz said, parents should be educated on gangs to understand where gangs are active and find safe travel routes for their family to and from home. "Gangs lead to only a few places: hospital, prison or the graveyard," Livingston said. "It's much more difficult to separate from the gang than to prevent them getting in the gang."
For more information, contact the California Youth Outreach at 408.280.0203 or on the web at cyoutreach.org.
