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PORTWND OBSERVER
Volume XVII, Number 19,
March 18, 1987
25C
Police Aware of CRIPS in Northeast Portland
by Jerry Gamer
In ...........w> • ■
..... r ive been presistent rum ors regarding a Los An
i
••••••! ,.
... .»• ( RIPS flesidents living in Northeast Portland
have alleged ” ii
RIPS •'embers .ire operating in their neighborhoods
selling drug', and c o m m ittin g crim inal a ts A N ortheast man w h o was
shot retentty laim that his assailent told him that I was a CRIPS
The CRiPS are a predom inantly Black gang operating n South Central
Los Angeles
According to Los Angeles officials there are 100 CRIPS
gangs, w ith some 15,000 members
CRIPS members are engaged in a
vanety of crimes, ranging from drug trafficking to murder There is a gang
related murder in Los Angeles everyday
Officer Jay Drum, public inform ation officer for the Portland Police
Bureau, said the Bureau is aware o f the presence of CRIPS in Northeast
Portland However, Drum sard there is no evidenced that CRIPS are taking
over North and Northeast Portland
There maybe 6 to 12 CRIPS members
m Portland We are aware of the CRIPS and have been receiving inform a
tion on the gang from the Los Angeles Youth Gang Task Force From the
inform ation that has been provided to us we know that the gang is invol
ved in establishing drug houses in depressed areas of Los Angeles and has
been linked to numerous crimes including murder
Drum said part of the preceived CRIPS crisis can be blamed on the media
and the public He was referring to TV reports by local stations alleging
that CRIPS members are actively involved in crim inal activities in Northeast
Furthermore Drum said individuals contribute to the CRIPS hysteria by
claim ing they it 1 members, when in fact th e y'ie not. and when individuals
report to the p o lite that they were the victim s o f a crime bv a CRIPS
"F o r instance, during a neighborhood meeting on crim e, one lady said
her son was a CRIPS Both the w om an and her son are w hite As you
know , CRIPS are a predom inantly Black gang As far as people being vie
lim ized by CRIPS members, or their involvement in drug dealing, the Port
land Police Bureau does not have any concrete evidence to substantiate
the above
W hen the Bureau obtains evidence indicating that CRIPS are
involved in criminal activities, I can assure the public that the Portland Po
lice Bureau will be there to enforce the law. Drum said
D rum 's views are similar to those of Chief M att Lockett of the Portland
School Police. There have been rum ors that CRIPS members are causing
disturbances and dealing drugs in Northeast schools
Lockett said the
school police haven't encountered any problems w ith CRIPS members He
said the school police investigate all rum ors regarding CRIPS activities
Lockett said he has alerted school adm inistrators, teachers, and staff
personnel to be on the look out ,0 ’ CRIPS members. He said, "T here are
students in >fi: s j.'iuol »»»to.n anti au.ranistrators w ho w iil not a llo w a hand
ful of gang members to tell them w hat to do
I know the school police
w o n t."
In an attem pt to educate the public concerning the actual threat CRIPS
St***
P h o t o by R ichard J B r o w n
P o rtla n d p o lic e m o v e in o n an a p a rtm e n t a lle g e d to be o c c u p ie d by
m em ber* pose to the com m unity, Nc^theast o fficia l* are em barking on an
am bitious public inform ation campaign Sharon M cCorm ick coordinator
of the Northeast Coalition o f Neighborhoods san) hei offir e is ret eiving
calls from parents w ho are concerned about the s e rio u s n e s s of the ( RIPS
problem Some ask if it is safe for their kids to we.ir red to si hool (R e d is
th e i olor o f a rival i m g called the B loods in Lus A ng eles I M c C o rm ic k sant
there is .1 high level o f feat ill the 1 o m m u m ty
To com b at fear in the c o m m u n ity ab ou t the CRIPS and CRIPS im ita to rs,
Mi C o rm it k said neig hbo r h o o d o fficia ls w ill sponsor a sym p o siu m on
C R IPS in the fu tu re
D M A C UrgesSchool Board To Implement____
Home Work Program______________________
by Jerry Garner
The Desegregation M onitoring Advisory C om m ittee (D M A C ) recom
mended to the Portland School Board that they develop and implem ent a
daily "h o m e w ork ca rd " that w ould be sent to the parents o f students en
rolled at Harriet Tubman Middle School so class assignments can he mom
tored. The recom m endation was presented by D M AC to the school board
during DM AC mid year report to the board
The report said such a system will provide inform ation regarding the spe
cific night s hom ew ork that had been assigned
In addition, the report
called for establishing a strong hom eroom setting where the emphasis will
center around being a "frie n d to kids
Under the plan, approxim ately 15
to 18 students w ould be in a classroom setting for a 30 m inute period
Teachers w ould prim arily w ork to develop self esteem w ith Tubman stu
dents
DM AC praised the school district for making progress in the area of
m ulti ethnic m ulti cultural curriculum , for its revision of the assessment
process as it relates to placement of children in special education, and for
expansion of teen health centers in the school district.
DM AC said they've continued to fo llo w the reduction of special educa
tion students in terms of the number o f students entering and exiting from
special education The DMAC was supportive and impressed w ith the dis
tric t's developm ent o f the teen health centers The health centers offer a
variety of health services to enrolled students at the schools w hich house
the health centers
However, the DM AC voiced their concerns about the over representation
of A frican American students in both rnaior and m inor categories regarding
suspensions A frican American students comprise 15 percent o f the dis
tr ic t’s student population but represent 28 percent o f all minor suspensions
and 45 percent of maior suspensions.
Halim Rahsaan, chairman o f DM AC and a member of the Black United
Front, blames the high number o f Black students requiring discipline on
the system . "D r. Prophet, Portland School S uperintendent, said that a
good education program will eliminate discipline problem s."
Ronnie Herndon, co-chairman o f the Black United Front, voiced his con
cerns to the school board regarding the huge achievem ent gap between
students in affluent neighborhoods and those w ho go to school in poorer
areas Herndon told the board that African American children in Portland
w ho attend inner city schools, scored, on the average, lower on basic skills
test m the 1985 86 academic year than they did in 1980 81 He blames the
disparity on the school board for operating a tw o school system, one for
the rich and one for the poor
Superintendent Prophet responded to Herndon s criticism , saying that
Herndon doesn't have a m onopoly w hen it comes to educating Black child
ren He said the Portland School D istrict is aware o f the achievem ent gap
and has taken steps to reduce it.
f
Ron H e rn d o n a d d re s s e d th e P o rtla n d S c h o o l B o a rd T h u rsd a y. M a r
"T h e achievem ent gap is a result of the deprived background of the stu
dent and because of the failure of the schools, the com m unity, scoial ser
vice agencies, and the student's family to provide excellent education and
support for these ch ild re n ," Prophet said.
Herndon said the gap can be closed if the district employs educators
w ho are qualified to teach children from econom ically disadvantaged hack
grounds
He also recommended that the district prevent teachers from
12. F o llo w in g th e D M A C re p o rt
P hoto by R ichard J Brown
y .
w orking in the district w ho believed that econom ically deprived students
do poorly in school
In its report to the school board, the D M AC recom m ended that the dist
rict use updated m ethods to assist special education students in making the
transition to regular classrooms, seek parents advice in hiring of staff at
Tubman M iddle School, and provide cultural awareness training for distnt t
personnel
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