îlie ^ o rtla n ù © bscruer________________________PaSeAH
March 25.2009
Gang War
Front Lines
continued
fro m Front
trend fell on deaf ears, until gang
shootings broke out in the 1980s,
which prompted a strong response
from elected officials.
G ordly said the approach to
addressing the issue has never
been com prehensive, nor have
they been sustained.
It's difficult to get a handle
on how funding has fluctuated
for gang prevention program s
since they've been adm inistered
by different governm ent agen­
cies that have overlapping func­
tion and have been periodically
reorganized.
Rob Ingram, the director of
the P ortland O ffice o f Youth
Violence Prevention, points to
a gang outreach program the
city instituted in 1990s as an
exam ple. It was based on a na­
tionally-lauded program from
Boston that could influence and
decrease gang activity. It had a
broad approach, according to
In gram , w ho said th a t it in ­
volved partnerships w ith law
enforcem ent, schools, and pro­
bation officers.
H ow ever the local effort be­
cam e a "victim o f its own suc­
cess," said Ingram. Policy m ak­
ers thought the w ar was won,
and funding was cut.
"Until the problem is up front
and personal it d o esn 't seem
like m uch for the electeds," said
John Canda, program coordina­
tor for the Brothers and Sisters
Keepers, and a longtim e gang
outreach worker. He said that
as long as body bags aren't in
the news there is m oney for ur­
ban renewal and bike lanes, but
not m oney for gang outreach.
With the economy tanking, and
all bureaus of the city looking at
across the board cuts there is less
money to address the issue.
The Youth Violence Preven­
tion office operates on $400,000
a year, most of which is directed
in the form o f grants gang o ut­
reach organizations.
In February, Police C om m is­
sio n er D an S altzm an , te rm i­
n a te d g r a n ts f o r six y o u th
o u trea ch agen cies in o rd er to
r e d i r e c t $ 1 2 0 ,0 0 0 o f th is
m oney to stre e t-b a se d g ang
outreach w orkers.
"There's going to be a huge
piece m issing," said R ebecca
Black, the director and founder
o f O regon O utreach, w ho lost
$20,000 for her program as a re­
sult o f the funding shift.
Oregon Outreach provides an
all day summ er program for at-
risk youth, which is now jeopar­
dized. Funding for Ingram's of­
fice has been squeezed as money
from the county dried up, and
could be cut entirely this spring.
The police are also strained.
Lt. M ichael Lelof remembers
the days w hen he could leave
the N ortheast Precinct and find
a gang m em ber in five minutes.
N ow they're spread out o ver
three counties, with three dif­
ferent pro secu to rs, and three
different police departm ents.
"It h a s c o m p lic a te d th e
work," said Lelof. "The gam e
has changed."
Shortly after the spike in gang
shooting, the P ortland Police
a n n o u n c e d O p e ra tio n C o o l
Down in m id January, w hich in­
v o lv e d an in c re a s e d p o lic e
presence that was intended to
stop retaliatory killings.
T he police made arrests, and
seized w eap o n s, b ut Ingram
said that rivalries are still active.
"If you put that m any law
e n f o r c e m e n t a g e n ts o n the
street it's going to have an ef­
fect," he said.
L elof said that it's crucial that
police partner with m em bers of
the com m unity to com bat gang
violence, but he w orries that
the level o f violence will return
to that o f the 1990s.
Between 2 0 0 1 and 2008, acti­
vation o f the city's Gang Vio-
photo by M ark
W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Portland Office of Youth Violence Prevention Director Rob Ingram and Chef Tracy Bell of
Traiel's Food 4 the Soul discuss a gang-related drive-by shooting that erupted March 19
outside the restaurant at 300 N. Killingsworth St.
lence Response Team doubled.
Lelof said a trend he's seeing is a
second generation o f gangsters.
"I'm now seeing their ch il­
dren," said L elof o f the gang
m em bers he busted years ago.
He said he's also seeing gang
m em bers as young as 14.
Ingram attributes part o f this
to M easure 11. Passed in 1994,
the law m andates tough sen­
tences for violent crim es. A c­
cording to statistics frorh the
Oregon D epartm ent o f C orrec­
tions, it has disproportionately
a ffec ted A frican A m erican s. staggering achievem ent gap as
Ingram said that it has created evidence.
But Canda said he sees new
fath e rless fam ilies, and now
venom in gang-affiliated youth
many people are getting out.
Everyone interviewed for this he's never seen in his 20 years
article said that the sam e p a­ doing street-based outreach. He
th o lo g ies co n trib u te to gang says the interaction is more hos­
violence: broken hom es, a d e­ tile, with a genuine disregard for
ta c h m e n t fro m so c iety , an d human life or any social norms.
C anda points to the shoot­
wanting to belong to something.
M artin G onzalez, a school ing at a north Portland church
b o ard m em b er and longtim e late last year as an example.
"A ttitudes have shifted," he
com m unity organizer, said that
schools aren't culturally sensi­ sa id ." How does it com pare? It's
tiv e, and points to the city 's ju st as deadly"
Rental Fees Blindside Youth Sports
con tin u ed ^ ^ f r o m F ront
lies, and didn’t want to ask for
more.
“1 do n ’t think that w ould be
an option,” she said.
Instead she’s sought out the
support o f local businesses and
individuals for donations, with
varying success, and is going to
sta rt se llin g c o n c e s s io n s at
games.
Shawn Rogers, custom er ser­
vice su p e rv iso r fo r P ortlan d
Parks and Recreation, said that
the popularity o f sports, espe­
cially some o f the more non-tra-
ditional sports like U ltim ate
Dear Deanna!
M y b o yfrie n d w ill not te ll me that
he loves me. 1 have been w ith him
Frisbee, lacrosse and rugby, has
increased dem and on parks. He
said that in 2005 he started re­
ceiving some com plaints from
oth er sport groups about not
having adequate tim e on the
field. Rogers said that the parks
bureau reasoned that im posing
an hourly rate on youth leagues
w ould free up space.
G inger Bradbury, a longtim e
p articip an t in P ortlan d C oed
S o c c e r, sa id so m e y o u th
leagues would book more tim e
than needed.
"They w ould block out the
fields and not use them ," she
said.
Ask Deannal
fo r three years and he always tells
me that his presence should answer
the question. He has ve rb a lly said
he loves me about five times. W e've
had our problem s w ith cheating and
Bradbury said fields have al­
ways been cram ped with people
clam o rin g to use them , w ho
added that her organization has
lim ited their use for this reason.
According to the fee sched­
u le , y o u th le a g u e s are still
charged less than adult leagues,
but the bottom line is still higher
fees. For instance, for a youth
baseball team to use a field they
would have to pay $ 1.55 an hour.
Last year it was only 33 cents.
In less a fflu e n t n e ig h b o r­
hoods, determ ined by federal
H ousing and U rban D evelop­
m ent guidelines, youth sports
team s will continue to get some
pricing discounts.
A c c o rd in g to R o g e rs, the
new fee scheme was ham mered
out by the Sports Work G roup-
a volunteer organization com ­
posed o f representatives from
d istric ts o f all m ajo r g roups
w ho play sports on the fields.
Brain Ripley, a 37-year-old risk
manager, has been a coach for
North Portland Jupior Baseball
League for five years. He's seen
cam araderie, self-respect, and
discipline thrive in the kids he's
coached, but recently received
the straining fee schedules.
For years the league, which
has about 125 kids, had prac­
ticed on fields ow ned by Port­
land Parks and Recreation and
charged a fiat fee o f only $363.
But this year, the park system ’s
hourly rate hit R ipley w ith a
$3,851 bill.
"I said 'th a t's g o t to be a
typo," said Ripley o f when he
first saw the bill.
Even if his baseball league cut
its hours in half it would still be
fiv e tim es h ig h er than w hat
they've typically paid, accord­
ing to Ripley.
Ripley said he's had parents
lament that they may not be able
to afford to pay the $80 to $125
fee charged by the league in
these rough econom ic tim es.
H ow ever, he stresses that he
d o e s n ’t w ant to turn anyone
away.
"We'll figure out som ething
to m ake it work," he said.
Ripley's group had field res­
ervations for nearly 37 hours a
week, according to Rogers, who
su sp ects that R ip ley 's group
was high-balling its requested
tim e and w asn't using it all.
"You have to make a decision
w hat's adequate," said Rogers.
The Joyce Washington
Memorial Scholarship Fund
break-ups but w e ’ re s till together.
I want to head in the d ire ctio n o f
co m m itm e nt but I need to address
his feelings firs t. H o w do I fin d out
dating someone on the jo b , i t ’ s
his true feelings form e. -Adrienne;
probably true. Y ou can’ t do any­
Columbia, S.C.
thing other than m ove on, be glad
that you got out early and pray fo r
Dear Adrienne:
the new lady w h o w ill be his next
The things y o u r b o yfrie n d is n 't
sucker.
saying speak the loudest. Y o u ’ ve
a llow ed this behavior in the rela­
Dear Deanna!
tio n sh ip and at this po in t, there's a
I have a platonic relatio n sh ip w ith
small chance he'II change. Youhave
a male frie n d o f fo u r years but m y
rights in this relatio n sh ip and de­
fiancé doesn't lik e it. He has begun
serve to kn o w his feelings and in ­
m aking hints that I ’ ve slept w ith
tentions. Y ou need to be direct and
m y frien d and accusing me o f ly in g
te ll h im how you feel, what you
to him . I ’ ve o n ly k n o w n m y fiancé
want and y o u r expectations on love
fo r tw o years and i f I had to choose
and m arriage. Be prepared i f you
d o n 't get the answers you seek and
between the tw o men, 1 w o u ld
choose m y friend. H o w can I con­
you have to decide to stay o r keep
vince m y fiancé that w e ’ re o n ly
it m oving.
friends and that nothing is going on?
T h is is becom ing stressful because
Dear Deanna!
I love both men and want them in
I met a guy that I thought was rea lly
m y life .
interested in me. I helped h im get
Anlonio, Texas
Help?
-Sh a ro n ; San
e m p lo y m e n t at m y c o m p a n y ,
helped w ith his b ills and paid c h ild
Dear Sharon:
support fo r h im . As soon as things
Y o u r future husband is jealous o f
started lo o k in g up fo r him , our
yo u r relatio n sh ip w ith yo u r male
relatio n sh ip changed.
friend. I t ’ s yo u r re sp o n sib ility to
T hin g s hit
the fan when he got a prom otion and
fin d balance as you seek to have
m oved in to another department.
both relationships.
He is now te llin g me that he's fo ­
husband to be part o f the frien d sh ip
cused on im p ro v in g his life instead
o f dati ng m e. I heard that he' s dating
so he can understand and be more
open minded. A lso be m in d fu l o f
someone else in the company. What
y o u r p latonic frien d sh ip to make
do 1 do? —C ry in g and Miserable;
sure y o u ’ re not g iv in g yo u r fiancé
reasons to co m p la in . I f things d o n ’ t
On-Line Header
Dear Miserable:
Y o u set y o u rs e lf up by confusing
In v ite yo u r
im p ro ve after the a ir is clear, you
fiancé has issues you ce rta in ly need
to explore.
(1937-1996) Publisher of The Portland Observer
help w ith being used and also givin g
up y o u r m oney Y ou never should
m ix business w ith pleasure because
it's a guaranteed recipe fo r pain. He
used you to get ahead and you can
see early on that he's leaving you
behind.
Ask Deanna is written by Deanna M.
Write Ask Deanna! at the email
askdeanna I @ yahoo.com or 264 S.
LaCienega Blvd. Suite 1281 Beverly
H ills, CA 9 0 2 I I . W ebsite:
The Portland Observer, 4747 N.E. Martin Luther King Blvd
503-288-0033 or email markw@portlandobserver.com
I f you heard that he ’ s
z