Broad bill targets gangs
YAKIMA, Wash. – 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 at 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.”
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 an ordinance aimed at cracking down on gang activity. However, some groups raised concerns about the constitutionality of them, 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 up a task force to study the matter.
The group’s recommendations are on 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 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 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.