Community
Case Studies
Skornicka Seminar for Communities
Teaming Up On Gangs
1999
La Follette School of Public Affairs
University of Wisconsin–Madison
©1999 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
All rights reserved.
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La Follette School of Public Affairs
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PDF created from HTML files June 26, 2014
Table of Contents
Building This Plane as We Fly It: The La Crosse Response to Youth Violence and
Gangs ......................................................................................................................................... 1 To Be or To Wannabe: Drug Use, Gang Participation, and Youth Violence in
River Falls ..................................................................................................................................7 Fighting for Peace: The Young Gang Problem on Milwaukee’s South Side ........................ 14 Gangs and Youth Violence in Stevens Point ........................................................................... 17 Oneida: Youth, Culture, Gangs, and Cooperation .................................................................. 24 Building This Plane as We Fly It:
The La Crosse Response to Youth Violence and Gangs
Wendy Kloiber
“Do you want to die?”
“I don’t want to die. Go home.”
Koua Vang would later tell La Crosse police that Anou Lo asked him this question moments
before Lo pulled a revolver from his waistband and fired five shots at Vang, hitting his right arm. He
would also tell police that Anou Lo was a member of the Imperial Gangsters and that he himself
was a member of the TMC’s, or Tiny Man Crew. The TMC’s had been aggressive in earlier
interactions with the IG’s, and Vang felt Lo had shot him in retaliation.
The shooting took place on July 6, 1995, in a small park on the corner of Hood and 5th
streets. The park is surrounded by family homes; many residents of the Hood Park neighborhood
have lived there all their lives. Koua Vang was the only person to receive a gunshot wound that
night, but he was far from being the only person who felt injured by the violent act.
***
Thirty years ago, the Hood Park neighborhood was almost entirely white and blue collar,
populated by homeowners who were immigrants themselves or were the children and grandchildren
of immigrants. In the years leading up to what would be known as the Hood Park shooting, the
neighborhood had been undergoing significant changes. Many of its original homeowners were still
there, but they had grown older. An increasing number of homes became rental properties. The
neighborhood began to look less established and more transient, becoming a place where people
came and went instead of a place where people had put down roots.
Perhaps most significantly, the people moving into the rental properties were racially and
ethnically different from the residents they replaced. In the last decade, La Crosse’s population has
jumped from being only 1 percent nonwhite to 11 percent nonwhite as blacks from Illinois and
refugees from Southeast Asia arrived in a contemporary wave of immigrants wanting to make the
city their home.
The shooting in Hood Park brought into the open tensions that had been building as
diversity increased. The incident was felt by many to be a confirmation of the fact that their safe and
peaceful neighborhood had become a war zone, populated by people who neither shared nor
respected the longtime residents’ love of their home city.
“This was a neighborhood where you didn’t lock your car doors. Sure, there were typical kid
scuffles, but this wasn’t a place where you had to worry about the safety of your kids or your
property.” Sandy Herold lives with her husband and two children a few blocks from Hood Park in
the house that was her grandmother’s. It was through her children that Sandy realized that the
changes in her neighborhood extended beyond the deterioration of some rental properties.
On a Saturday morning when she and her husband were at work, her eleven-year-old son
was mugged by a group of young teens who told him they were gang members. “They said to my
son, `Give us your ten dollars or we’ll come after you with 9 millimeters and Uzis.’ On that same day
in this neighborhood there were two purse snatchings, and some beer was stolen from a car when
people were unloading groceries.”
1
Awareness of the presence of gangs in La Crosse happened on two levels at once. The first
level was the change in the quality of neighborhood life - a feeling of decreased safety and trust
caused by incidents like the mugging of Sandy’s son. While the young teens who threatened him may
or may not themselves have been gang members, they were the relatives of adults who had moved
into the neighborhood and who in some cases were claiming their gang membership openly.
While Hood Park residents felt threatened by the increase of these crimes, at the second
level the La Crosse Police Department had been seeing an increase in gang-related felonies
committed within the city and the region. La Crosse’s location on a major highway made the city a
convenient crossroads for the exchange of drugs, guns, and stolen cars. Established, “corporate”
gangs from larger cities as well as “homegrown” white and Hmong gangs were eager to take
advantage of the opportunities. In Sandy Herold’s neighborhood a man arrested for delivering a
machine gun to his brother reportedly told police he was a general for the Black P-Stone Rangers.
He claimed there were 100 Rangers in La Crosse and 200 more coming, and threatened to take out
contracts on police if they got in his way. This man lived for a time in the same house as some of the
children who had mugged Sandy’s son.
***
Prior to the Hood Park shooting, public opinion about gangs and teen violence had been
divided. Mark Wehrs, who in July of 1995 was the Opinion Page editor of the La Crosse Tribune
said, “At the time, the main concern of our editorial board was not to become overly fearful. We
didn’t want to be afraid of all kids and particularly we didn’t want to fan the flames of racist
sentiment. Even if it was the truth that there were TMC’s and IG’s, we were determined to softpedal
the story. We just didn’t want to incriminate every kid on the streetcorner in baggy pants.
“Also, we were conscious of not wanting to divide the old against the young, especially when
it was only a small percentage of kids who were in trouble. So even though the police were doing a
good job of trying to get the word out, and from a news standpoint we covered the events fully,
from an editorial standpoint we stuck our heads in the sand.”
The La Crosse police had been making efforts to quietly “get the word out” for some time.
In 1993, two years before the shooting, the police department went to local school administrators
and suggested a collaborative effort. The result was the establishment of a fact-finding committee,
headed by Assistant Superintendent David Johnston, which included parents, clergy, police, and the
Hmong Mutual Assistance Association (HMAA). The committee found that there was indeed a gang
presence in La Crosse’s schools. The committee report gathered dust on the shelf until the Hood
Park shooting. As Dr. Johnston said:
With Hood Park we lost our innocence. Before Hood Park, both liberals and conservatives
in the city thought the issue was overrated and overplayed. We held workshops that trained teachers
to recognize gang insignia, using information that was probably years out of date by the time we got
it. We had a false sense of security, and part of that came from the fact that we never had the real
players at the table. We were the converted talking to the converted. The kids we talked to were the
student council leaders, not the kids who are out until three in the morning. The issue of gangs also
brings up the issue of racism, which is difficult and painful. It’s very hard to talk about racism
directly until something like a Hood Park happens, and then it’s hard to talk about it productively.
The black community in La Crosse has no representative organization like the HMAA. The
Hmong community arrived in tribal families as refugees from the Southeast Asian wars that
devastated their homelands. By contrast, the black community in La Crosse has arrived family by
family. The Hmong, as an “invited” group of people who had been wartime allies of the United
States had to make the transition from a tribal people to being residents in a highly technological
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society. The black community has had to face the fact that many people in their new home felt
blacks were bringing with them the very problems - crime, drugs and gangs - they most wanted to
escape.
Johnston moved to La Crosse 18 years ago, and from his vantage point as an educational
administrator has watched the school system adjust to the city’s increasing diversity.
We’ve attempted to do outreach to the African American parents, but I wouldn’t say we’ve
been successful. The Hmong community has a different history. When the Hmong children first
entered the school system they tended to be favorites of teachers because they were hardworking.
As they grow more and more integrated into the community that’s less true. Now that they’ve
gained a certain level of comfort, the Hmong kids are more likely to act like majority kids, and
ignore authority more often.
One college-aged black man working as a counselor in a youth program recently made the
decision to return to Illinois at the end of the semester. Heavily recruited to attend UW La Crosse,
he found it very difficult, in two years as a student there, to feel like an accepted and valued part of
the community. This seemed to be a common feeling among many black students and workers in La
Crosse.
“Both Asian and black students here are isolated. And often the youth of color who are at
risk are the kids who are isolated twice - once because of race and once because their families are
working hard to meet basic survival needs,” says Denis Tucker of the Hmong Mutual Assistance
Association. “Lots of these kids are joining gangs to have a family, to have people to be close to
who care about them.”
***
In the week before the shooting, Sandy Herold’s kids were unable to deliver all the papers
on their 5:30 a.m. route. The “gang kids” would be out on the stoop of their house waiting for her
son to come by. One of the kids hit her son and the whole family felt scared. Finally Sandy went to
the police station, saying, “This is really happening, we’re really scared. We’re not crazy. We’re not
making this up.” An officer offered to sponsor a community meeting with her, and together they
made a flyer. Two hundred copies were printed and dropped off the afternoon of the shooting. The
next morning, Sandy and the kids delivered the flyers in the morning paper.
More than 100 people showed up at that meeting. “It had almost a vigilante atmosphere,”
said Sandy. “There were World War II vets there who had had some of those kids riding their bikes
back and forth in front of their cars real slow, kind of playing chicken, and the vets were saying, `I’m
gonna hit those kids next time.’ We nailed down the three households that were the biggest problem
and the feeling was almost like, let’s burn them out.”
Overnight, perceptions of the issue of gangs and teen violence went from “overrated and
overplayed” to a sense that nothing was more critical to the quality of life in La Crosse than to solve
this problem. An incredible amount of time, energy, and resources went into many different kinds of
efforts.
Several of them grew out of the community meeting. The city established a community
planning council, which is attended by residents, members of the mayor’s staff, and police. In
addition, a neighborhood block watch got started, with Sandy as a captain. Volunteers attended
meetings and trainings, and developed ways of fitting block watch activities into their daily
schedules. A program called Skates for Kids took up residence in Hood Park, flooding a skating rink
and renting ice skates to neighborhood youth. Each of these programs met a different need. The
planning council is the primary venue where questions of what requirements should be placed on
the owners of neighborhood property are raised and decided. It can marshal different kinds of direct
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and indirect authority to deal with the deterioration of property issues that are important to the
community. The block watch addressed the lack of safety residents were feeling, and Skates for Kids
reasserted the presence of the community in the park, reclaiming it as a play space for children and
families.
Other efforts targeted young people directly. The Community Youth Initiative was a joint
project of the police, the schools, and county social services that was started in 1994. “Ed Kondracki
(La Crosse’s police chief) and the superintendent and the social services director just kept finding
themselves at the same meetings talking about the same issues,” said the program’s director, Kerry
Johnson. “We started looking at models to address the needs of youth in the community and we
decided to use the Search Institute’s model. Most models focus on deficits— on all the things that
are missing from kids’ lives or from their communities. The Search Institute model focuses on
assets, and how to increase them.”
The Community Youth Initiative is composed of four bodies. An Adult Advocacy
committee works directly in the community on behalf of youth. The newly established Youth
Commission pulls together students from area high schools and gives them the opportunity to
discuss issues together and serve as an advisory board to community leaders. In addition, two
separate teams using the Search Institute model focus on increasing the internal and external assets
available to the community’s teens.
The Community Youth Initiative has chosen not to focus specifically on at-risk youth,
believing that a more general mission is better suited to meet the needs of the community as a
whole. A different program, Another Way, works directly with gang members trying to make the
transition out of gang membership. Another Way, like many similar programs in La Crosse, is
supported by several groups, although it is sponsored directly by the police department. Once in the
Another Way program, teens meet with counselors in a group setting two or more times a week.
Meetings are designed to give teens a chance to talk about their experiences, and to meet some of
the needs for support and companionship that led many of them to join gangs.
As a catalyst for many of these efforts, the La Crosse Police Department has exercised a
progressive philosophy about the role of the police in solving community problems. “We’ve
undergone a real paradigm shift,” says Chief Ed Kondracki. “We’re not ticket writers anymore.
We’ve really begun to see ourselves as problem solvers.”
Part of the change is reflected in the level and quality of the presence that police officers
have established by making themselves a resource to community efforts like the neighborhood block
watches and programs like Another Way. Another part is reflected directly in La Crosse’s policing
practices. Chief Kondracki is an advocate of community oriented policing, a strategy that moves
officers away from a “headquarters” mentality and instead locates officers in smaller offices within
the neighborhoods they police. With regard to gangs, La Crosse police have worked to identify both
the larger group of teens who claim membership in a gang as well as the smaller group of teens who
are habitual offenders. Teens with five misdemeanor convictions, or two felony or weapons
convictions, receive extra scrutiny.
In addition, the District Attorney’s office strategized alongside police to keep violent kids off
the streets. Koua Vang, the victim in the Hood Park shooting, went to jail for gun possession and
Anou Lo received a very stiff sentence. The La Crosse County DA assigned an assistant to
concentrate on gang violence prosecution, and judges assisted in the effort by making use of
sentencing enhancers for gang offenses to increase the jail time served by offenders.
***
4
Much has been accomplished in the two and a half years since the Hood Park shooting.
Perhaps the most important gauge of that accomplishment lies in the way residents in the Hood
Park area feel about their neighborhood. “Now it’s not even close to a problem to send my son to
the store,” says Sandy Herold. Residents agree that the neighborhood once again feels like a safe
place to be. While there is some question about whether the vigilance of the neighborhood block
watch and the increased police presence have displaced crime away from Hood Park and into less
well organized neighborhoods, most people feel that there has simply been a reduction in crime.
Community efforts have met with different kinds of challenges as the sense of safety
increases. Participation in the block watch in the seventeen- block neighborhood around Hood Park
has dropped off, although a strong core of volunteers keeps the program vital and active, and block
watches have increased throughout the city. Skates for Kids has become a huge success, garnering
attention across the state. As the program gets bigger, its administrative burden increases, and its
founders are both extremely proud of their efforts and a little overwhelmed. As the community
planning council becomes more institutional, its mission also expands.
The Community Youth Initiative has also undergone many changes. “We try to keep in
mind that we’re building this plane as we fly it,” says director Kerry Johnson. While one asset team
has organized many community events and is pleased with its progress, the other has floundered,
uncertain of how best to accomplish its mission. The teams are now working on a plan to reorganize
their efforts.
Another Way is now well established and continues to work with new groups of youth each
semester. There continues to be concern about whether La Crosse is reaching all the youth and
whether their interventions are effective. Denis Tucker of the HMAA says, “If we’re talking about
youth who have made it all the way out of gang membership, I know three. Out of maybe a
hundred.”
***
This issue is a particularly poignant one for La Crosse Mayor John Medinger. Born and
raised in the Hood Park neighborhood, he has watched La Crosse change and adjust throughout his
lifetime.
Mayor Medinger and his wife have adopted two black children, and the issues of teen
violence and gangs, as well as the issue of race, are deeply important to his family. Recently he had
the experience of driving past a group of kids in an empty parking lot on the way to pick up his son
and discovering later that the hangout had been the scene of a gang stabbing.
“There are reasons to be encouraged. One is the depth of feeling that La Crosse people have
about this place. There’s a feeling of protectiveness, that we’ve got a really good thing here and we’re
not going to let it slip away. Another thing is the way that in my lifetime, particularly in the political
arena, racism has become absolutely unacceptable.”
Sandy Herold tells the story that at a recent diversity workshop in her son’s school, he
listened as one of the teens who mugged him participated in a panel on being a teen of color in La
Crosse. There was a sense of outrage and injustice among the white residents of the neighborhood
afterward, a sense that racism was being used to cloak the fact that the behavior of these teens was
unacceptable. As Sandy said, “I’m not being a racist. I’m not prejudiced against you because you’re
black. I’m prejudiced against you because you hit my son.”
When Assistant Superintendent David Johnston talks about ongoing efforts in the schools,
he is both very pleased and a little rueful. After giving an impressive listing of workshops, councils
and student efforts, he adds:
5
As educators, we’re trained to think that information changes behavior, and that once people
have good information, they’ll act on it and the problems will be solved. Of course in reality this is
often not the case, as anyone who has tried to quit smoking knows. To make real changes we have
to work with emotions, and work with culture.
One of the patterns we learned about in the civil rights work of the `60’s and `70’s was that
the first stage of a change movement begins with the legal structure. The priority is not that people
like you, it’s that you have some protection when people discriminate against you. The next piece of
the movement does begin with changing hearts and minds, changing the factors that lead to
discrimination. We really look to the young for that.
Of course, when we look to the young, to some degree we are asking them to do what we
are unwilling to do ourselves. And the separation between different “cliques” in high school is often
more brutal than the separations in the adult world. I worry that part of what we do is to teach kids
how to go underground with their differences, rather than to connect.
Almost all the architects of La Crosse’s solutions to the problem of teen violence and gangs
agree that the combination of adult leadership with youth leadership is key, and that neighborhood
as well as government involvement is essential. La Crosse has also been an excellent example of the
effect of continued civic dialog on a given issue. While initially there was little consensus on how to
solve the problem (or even that there was a problem,) the continued focus the issue received has
been extremely productive. As one former gang member said when recently asked whether gangs
still operated in La Crosse, “It’s not like it used to be. In this city now you know they’re gonna find
you out, and when you know they’re gonna find you out, you want to find something better to do
than try and hide all the time.” Both the increase in the perception of public safety and the decrease
in the perceived benefits of gang membership point to the effectiveness of La Crosse’s approach.
6
To Be or To Wannabe:
Drug Use, Gang Participation,
and Youth Violence in River Falls
Melissa Mullikin and Travis Myren
In River Falls, “Anything that looks like a gang or acts like a gang are probably
wannabes.”
- Pastor Jon Neitzell
Although River Falls lies just thirty miles from the Twin Cities, it has been able to avoid
many problems associated with big cities such as a high crime rate, pockets of poverty, congestion,
and pollution. It is a community that “has a small town type feel where people watch out for each
other, which probably keeps some of the [criminal] element out…. The bad element doesn’t stay
around long.”
River Falls is divided between Pierce and St. Croix counties. The city’s growth rate is
approximately 2 percent, which is slightly above the state average. With a population of
approximately 10,500, it is like many small communities in Wisconsin. The population is ethnically
homogeneous; 2 percent of the population is non-white. Most of its citizens enjoy a relatively
comfortable standard of living with 60 percent earning $41,000 or more annually, and 55 percent of
the population has attained some type of post-secondary education. The city is also the home of the
University of Wisconsin–River Falls.
Community Resources
Civic leaders have taken a community approach to providing activities for young people. In
some cases, organizations act independently while in others they work cooperatively to provide a
consistent message and programming agenda for young people. Many of the community leaders
involved in preventing destructive behavior among young people meet monthly to discuss
comprehensive approaches and apprise one another of their individual efforts.
Public, nonprofit, religious, and private organizations all sponsor activities and prevention
programming. Youth Officer Jon Aubart indicated, “There is always a big buzz of stuff for kids to
do. The school, in particular, has been very supportive of cooperative efforts aimed at preventing
gang activity and drug use.” Since most young people spend a large portion of their time in school,
school activities are an especially important element of the community’s prevention and
programming strategy.
The River Falls School District has one public high school, one public middle school, and
three elementary schools. The high school accommodates 950 students while the middle school
houses 500 students in grades six through eight. The prevention curriculum starts in the fourth
grade when high-profile high school students present an anti-drinking, anti-smoking message to the
elementary school students through skits. Active leaders in sports and band are chosen because
elementary school students know and admire them. This program is relatively successful because it
uses an effective delivery system, which is the key to a successful anti-drug curriculum. Counter Act,
a prevention program covering drugs, violence, and decision making, is presented in the fifth grade.
7
In addition to drug and alcohol prevention education, the school has teamed up with the
police force to educate seventh grade students about gang activity and youth violence. Youth Officer
Jon Aubart teaches the Gang Resistance Education and Training program (GREAT) to middle
school students. The GREAT program is taught in conjunction with a personal development class,
called Quest, which is unique to River Falls. The program teaches conflict resolution and heightens
awareness of gang warning signs such as dress and behavior changes. Aubart enjoys the school
setting where he is able to make personal connections with students. He feels these positive personal
connections mitigate the otherwise negative perceptions students may have of the police force.
Without these positive personal contacts, “most of the contact that young people will have with the
police is negative.”
In the high school, the prevention message and the development of positive decision making
skills are continued in health, home economics, and psychology classes.
Although these curricular activities are intended to be an effective prevention tool, some
students are confused about the classes’ intentions and are skeptical of their effectiveness. One
middle school student stated that he had “no idea” of what the Quest class was supposed to be
about. An entire group of students supported this notion by relaying a story of having to sew
garbage together with no understanding of the point of the exercise. Other students simply question
the effectiveness of prevention programs like GREAT. “People are already aware [of drugs and
alcohol]. They’ll make their own choices no matter what. No matter how dangerous they say it is,
they’ll still do it.”
In addition to the curricular prevention program, the school district offers a variety of after
school, extra-curricular activities for students aimed at providing healthy and fun ways for students
to spend their free time. The most commonly cited youth activity, by adults and young people alike,
was involvement in athletics. The high school has 21 athletic teams, and the middle school also
offers a number of athletic activities. Team sports are also available through the city’s Parks and
Recreation Department. Between 70 and 80 percent of the high school students are on at least one
sports team.
Community leaders support and encourage student participation in athletics. A rise in overall
individual achievement, both academically and socially, is attributed to participation in sports. Along
with increased individual achievement through personal development, involvement in athletics
reduces the likelihood that students will get involved with drugs and alcohol. Pauly Cudd, former
wrestling coach and owner of the Corner Youth Center added, “More dedicated athletes don’t use
drugs or alcohol.”
Some at-risk students may not be involved in sports because of the behavior code which
prohibits smoking and drinking. Employment, too, may keep many at-risk kids from participating in
sports; some at-risk students must work in order to support their “family, habit, car, or whatever.”
The school has considered adding intramural teams to accommodate students unable to participate
in regular athletic teams, but they are finding it logistically difficult because the high school lacks the
facilities to support additional sports teams.
Among some middle school athletes, there is the perception that students not involved in
sports are a small but identifiable group who use drugs and alcohol. A group of middle school
students who admit to drug use and gang affiliation acknowledged the prominence of sports in the
lives of their classmates. Yet only one of these five at-risk students indicated she would be
participating in an organized athletic team. One student acknowledged that he and his friends had
been involved in sports, but “it’s not fun anymore.”
8
High school athletes seemed to downplay the prominence and social value of playing on an
athletic team. They acknowledged that many of their friends aren’t involved in sports. These
students are most likely to be involved in drama or band and frequently attend sporting events. One
student noted that non-athletes attend sporting events just to stay involved socially. “A lot of people
go just to talk,” he said. “They don’t even pay attention.”
Alternatives to sports can be found in the community. A local non-profit agency, Healthy
Communities, works to organize both one-time and ongoing events and projects. Healthy
Communities receives most of its funding from the local hospital and is responsible for developing
and implementing alternative programs for young people. Program Coordinator Eric Johnson works
with an advisory board of students at the middle school to plan activities. Johnson is known as a
facilitator among organizations and has been involved in several other initiatives to build
partnerships within the community. For example, Healthy Communities is the lead agency for the
Pierce County Family Community Partnership which will offer a mentoring program for at-risk kids.
Johnson, who holds office hours at the local youth center, is viewed quite favorably by high school
students. They cited his involvement as an adviser to the school paper and yearbook staff and
praised his good ideas, saying, “People respect him a lot.”
The Corner Youth Center, owned and operated by Pauly Cudd, is a popular destination for
River Falls youth. Cudd opened the Youth Center ten years ago after being approached by a former
city administrator. The center receives most of its funding from the City of River Falls, $1600 per
month. Although Cudd appreciates this financial commitment, he is surprised that the city is willing
to support it as much as it does, noting that some of the aldermen appear not to care about what
goes on at the Youth Center. The community is generally supportive of youth activities, but its
willingness to pay for them is sometimes questionable, according to some community leaders. Even
Cudd’s enthusiasm for the project has diminished through the years. Although he enjoys working
with the kids and hearing them say how important the Youth Center is to them, he would like
someone else to manage the facility while he maintains limited involvement in terms of building
maintenance.
The Youth Center is open from 3 to 9 p.m. on weekdays and later on weekends. The facility
includes video games, a pool table, air hockey, a dance floor/basketball court, lounging couches, and
a d.j. booth. Young people can come in during business hours to hang out without having to buy
anything. It is one of the only places in town where loitering is encouraged. While it is open to
everyone, high school athletes frequent the Youth Center most. Despite being friends with those
involved in sports, students involved in drama and band are not regulars.
Middle school students, including athletes, also avoid the Youth Center. One middle school
athlete said, “Either you stay there and get tortured or…you leave.” Middle school students prefer to
socialize at Li’l Booda’s, a pool hall right down the street. Unlike the Youth Center, however, Li’l
Booda’s doesn’t tolerate loiterers, and young people may be asked to leave if they don’t buy
anything. While the middle school students are intimidated by the Youth Center and consider it a
seedy place where older kids hang out, the high school students find Li’l Booda’s “skanky,” a place
where young people can obtain marijuana.
Another popular after-school destination for middle school students is other friends’ houses,
particularly if the parents are not home. The students use this time just to hang out and listen to
music or watch movies. Alcohol and drug use sometimes occur in this setting but is mainly a
weekend activity. A middle school student claiming affiliation with a local gang indicated a sort of
monotony in their daily activities: “It’s like a daily ritual. We go downtown with friends, somebody
has some drugs, we do them, go home, and then we go downtown again the next day.”
9
While the high school students do not typically socialize at friends’ houses, they may attend
beer parties about every other weekend. Some parties are staged at a secluded destination in the
woods where the students build a bonfire and consume “quite a bit” of alcohol. The students denied
that everyone drinks but did acknowledge some pressure to drink.
Crime
City police confronted only four violent crime cases in 1997, and the number of adult arrests
declined by 17 percent. At the same time, the number of juvenile arrests increased, largely a result of
a crackdown on curfew violations, increased shoplifting enforcement, and continued enforcement of
underage tobacco violators. Police statistics also indicate that underage drinking has increased
dramatically.
Property crimes, underage drinking, possession of marijuana and other narcotics are the
most common youth offenses. The police department has also noticed an increase in vandalism,
including gang tagging. Along with these measurable violations, the manner in which young people
interact has also changed. “There has been an escalation of violence in terms of how they (young
people) treat one another.” However, common indicators of more fundamental and disturbing
problems such as tardiness and truancy have remained relatively constant. Nearly all truancy and
alcohol and drug problems seem to stem from problems at home. A common perception is that
parents are either too busy or seem not to care what their kids are doing in school or after school.
Youth Drug Use
Consistent with well-recognized cultural norms, alcohol appears to be the drug of choice
among River Falls youth. Alcohol is extremely easy to obtain since many adults keep it in the home,
and many young people perceive it as a safe drug having minimal long-term detrimental effects.
Marijuana is very accessible to high school students, and because of the proximity to the Twin Cities,
other drugs are also accessible.
Methamphetamine abuse has increased substantially in Iowa and Minnesota, and Wisconsin
counties bordering those states are feeling the effects. River Falls has had its share of problems with
crank; River Falls is located in Pierce and St. Croix counties, both of which share a border with
Minnesota. One of Wisconsin’s most infamous crank cases has come from River Falls; Deb
Cochran, a River Falls mother of four, was sent to federal prison in August 1998 for dealing crank.
While reflecting on the incident, Todd Schultz expressed frustration with the legal process. Because
authorities wanted to build a strong case against Cochran, “it took two years of watching kids
become chemically addicted and crash and burn, including her own daughter. We’re still dealing with
a lot of fallout.”
Because of the highly dangerous and addictive nature of crank, it has the potential to drown
out the more widespread problems of alcohol and marijuana abuse. Adults in the community appear
to be aware of alcohol and drug use among youth. This perception is well founded. Nearly all of the
young people interviewed acknowledged that alcohol use is widespread and that marijuana is readily
available, in both the high school and the middle school.
A group of middle school students involved in sports and other school activities admitted
that they and their friends sometimes drink alcohol. These same students are well aware of how to
obtain marijuana. “You could go down to Main Street at any time and buy pot,” according to one
student. Although these particular middle school students claimed not to use marijuana or other
10
drugs, drug use among the middle school students appears to be common knowledge: “We know
who does it and what they do.”
One of the students who has used drugs regularly supplements his $6 a week allowance with
drug sales to other middle school students. This student reinforced claims of easy access to
narcotics: “I can get pretty much anything; it may just take a while.” This student’s desire to support
his drug habit has resulted in possibly being held back a grade. “I used to be good in school,” he
said. “I used to get A’s or B’s, but now I’m failing. It’s because I have other things on my mind—
how I can get money and stuff like that.”
Stories of drug accessibility are not unique to the middle school. High school students also
noted the ease with which they could procure alcohol and other drugs. Students are able to “go out
at lunch and get it.” Among this group of students, primarily athletes, there is the impression that
those who do “go out at lunch and get it” are “people not involved in school…They don’t care as
much…. They hate school, have no school spirit.” Like the middle school, then, it appears that there
is a defined group of young people who are involved in illicit drug use (other than alcohol).
Youth Violence and Gang Activity
River Falls has experienced some gang activity. The city has seen the presence of Gangster
Disciples and Latin Kings, most likely from Chicago, Milwaukee, and the Twin Cities. These gangs,
however, have not maintained any sort of presence in the city, and other local gangs that have are
disorganized and fragmented. The Police Department has taken a very aggressive approach to
deterring the establishment of gangs. Officers generally have “a lot of contact” with individuals who
are suspected of recruiting for gangs or establishing a gang in the city. “If they know we’re watching
them, they don’t particularly care for it. They say we’re harassing them, but that’s okay. I can deal
with that.”
River Falls was one of the first communities to use Wisconsin’s Gang Solicitation Statute in
1994. The city used the statute after a suspected gang-related beating at a nearby mall. As part of the
plea agreement, the suspected gang member was asked to leave the community, and the Gangster
Disciple connection to Minneapolis appeared to die out, at least temporarily. In response to the
incident, the community also held a series of educational evening lectures on gang activity.
While corporate gangs have not firmly established themselves in River Falls, it appears that
there is a local gang based at the Meyer Middle School and the Good Shepherd Christian Academy.
Middle school students not involved in the gang say there is a small group of drug users who might
become violent if provoked, but they did not classify this group as a gang. “As long as you don’t get
in their way,” one student said, “they’ll leave you alone…. A lot of it’s just to show how tough they
are.” Although students not directly involved with this group do not recognize it as a gang, those
who are involved consider themselves to be gang members, and they fiercely guard the group’s
secrecy, particularly from the police. Despite these efforts, Jeff Horner, the elementary and middle
school psychologist, has identified a number of core members.
The gang is made up of about 15 members. One seventh grader at Meyer said she was
supposed to join the gang, but didn’t want to go through with the initiation which involved
“brawlin’” with a friend (another initiate) in front of two of the gang leaders. Some members were
initiated by being “beaten in” for a minute or more. The initiate is not allowed to fight back.
Details about the activity of the group are sketchy although one middle school student who
is friends with a number of gang members said they are essentially “weed buddies.” For the most
part, the group socializes together, drinking and smoking marijuana. It appears that there is no rival
11
gang, although one leader in the gang did mention his hatred for “the Loopies,” a group of people
who park on the Main Street loop and harass passersby. This same young man mentioned the
presence of Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, and Crips in River Falls, with the Gangster Disciples
attracting the most recruits. The middle school gang members, he says, “usually party with people
who are G.D.”
The group of middle school students who claim gang affiliation admitted to the most hard
core drug use. One student has done crank on a number of occasions. He has been high on crank
for three or four days at a time. He and his friends use this opportunity to “play” with local law
enforcement: “We’re so bored and so full of energy that we’ll just sit on the street downtown and
wait for the cops to come. Then we run away. Then we come back and wait for them to come
again.” Another student admitted to having done crank once with a relative. “Crank gives you a
really, really, really weird buzz….Me and my cousin thought we were going to die.” The two young
women thought they saw bugs crawling all over the room and proceeded to scrub every inch of the
walls with toothbrushes. While she admits that being on crank is “scary,” the rush is so great that
she wanted to do it again and again.
Many of these young people seem to thrive on this sense of invincibility. “I’ve done stuff
that I didn’t even know what it was. I have been at parties where everyone brings a drug; then we sit
in a circle and each take a drug from a bowl or something. It’s really stupid. I’ve only done it when I
was really drunk.” This same student claims that parents are present at parties where she and her
friends get high: “There are always parents there. They let you drink, they let you smoke, they let you
do drugs.” Another student claimed that some parents actually roll the joints for them.
It appears that the middle school gang members are reticent to join the ranks of big city
corporate gangs. The young leader interviewed said he didn’t want to get involved with “the big
gangs” and, although he likes “guns and stuff,” he doesn’t want to carry one.
Policies and the Law
In response to past suspected gang activity, the school tightened school discipline and
“refined” the way students are treated. School policy currently prohibits hats, baggy clothes, and it
does not allow students to carry backpacks in the hallway. Some high school students view these
policies as unnecessarily harsh. According to one, for example, “I know high school isn’t a
democracy, but it shouldn’t be an absolute dictatorship.” Another noted, “If the policies weren’t so
harsh, maybe we wouldn’t rebel as much.” School officials justify these policies: “Is it worth the
frustration it causes the few every year? Yes, because it makes a safer environment for the majority
of kids. And that’s important.”
Assistant Principal Carroll deals with all serious discipline problems at the high school.
Carroll stresses the importance of clear and swift consequences for both good and bad behavior. He
makes an effort to get to know students on a personal level and uses snack coupons and “positive
telegrams” to let students know that their good behavior is appreciated. At the same time, he is not
reluctant to use a progressive disciplinary policy if students disrupt the learning environment. The
disciplinary policy includes negative consequences such as detention, in-school suspension, school
service, and out-of-school suspension. If a student develops a pattern of negligence and abuse,
Carroll refers him or her to the school psychologist.
High school psychologist Todd Schultz offers psychological assessments, crisis intervention,
and direct counseling to students. He also organizes and facilitates support groups called “personal
growth groups” where students gather to talk about personal problems. The groups are not
organized around a specific theme, and students don’t know who other group members are until
12
they join the group. Students leave the group with strategies they can use to solve problems now and
in the future. Jeff Horner, the middle school psychologist, provides similar types of direct service to
students.
Outside of school, new juvenile offenders are typically processed through the municipal
court system. Repeat offenders, however, are often referred to the county’s Human Services
Department or are processed through the juvenile justice system. In some cases, hard core repeat
offenders are placed in a juvenile detention center or group home. The threat of juvenile detention,
however, does not deter all young offenders. One River Falls middle school student has been in a
number of these detention centers. He states, “ I don’t really like it, but I get to see friends I haven’t
seen in a while.”
Conclusion
UW-River Falls Sociology Professor Brian Copp calls River Falls “a very well-kept secret.”
But for how long? Mere proximity to the Twin Cities serves as a constant reminder of the possible
migration of gang activity. If left unchecked, this, along with rising methamphetamine use in
Northwest Wisconsin, may disrupt the small-town sense of security felt by most River Falls
residents.
Although the local police appear to have been successful in “moving gangs on” and out of
the area, a new threat has emerged. While corporate gang members from outside the community
have been relatively easy to identify and track, the newly forming gang is made up of River Falls
residents, many of whom have lived in the community since birth. Dealing with this low-profile
secretive group will likely pose a significant, though not insurmountable, challenge to community
leaders.
There are already a number of prevention and intervention strategies in place to address these
challenges. Education programs aimed at prevention include GREAT and Counter Act. Activity
programs aimed at prevention include extracurricular activities through school and programs and
outings sponsored by Healthy Communities, the Corner Youth Center, and other community
organizations. Current intervention services are provided primarily by school psychologists.
Prevention and intervention strategies can always be improved and new strategies can be
introduced to enhance the effectiveness of current strategies. For example, the timing of current
prevention strategies may need to be reconsidered, since most drug and alcohol abuse and gang
activity appears to start in middle school. In addition, community leaders may want to consider the
potential of athletic programming to prevent the youth problems cited above. Additional emphasis
could be placed on providing sports for students who are unable or unwilling to participate on
traditional, competitive athletic teams, and alternatives to athletics should be encouraged, particularly
at the middle school level. To maximize participation in these alternatives, students should be
involved in planning activities and should be consulted regularly to assess the effectiveness of the
programs and to develop new ones.
There appear to be very few intervention strategies and programs aimed at helping at-risk
youth. At-risk middle school students are not interested in participating in athletics or other school
sponsored activities, yet they are the students who are most in need of these alternative activities.
The community should consider developing programs and activities targeted at young people who
demonstrate the highest probability to hurt themselves and others. For these students,
comprehensive intervention strategies may be required. Such intervention strategies would combine
anti-violence and anti-gang messages with positive outlets and activities, preferably designed by the
students themselves.
13
Fighting for Peace:
The Young Gang Problem on Milwaukee’s South Side1
Wendy Kloiber and David Saikia
“These guys -- they ain’t afraid of God or nothin’.
And a man who ain’t afraid of God is a dangerous man.”
“A man who doesn’t fear God is a fool.”
“You don’t think a fool is dangerous?”
— exchange at a south Milwaukee restaurant, regarding a murder that occurred across the street on the
steps of St. Anthony Catholic Church
Milwaukee’s South Side is a fascinating area—in part because of its contradictions. Known
as “Walker’s Point,” the community has both the city’s largest employer and one of its highest
unemployment rates. Walker’s Point is home to the city’s oldest architecture and newest ethnic
culture. Nestled in the middle of “America’s Dairyland” is a prime source of authentic Mexican
cuisine.
Walker’s Point was thriving by 1835, and from the start, it was an industrial community.
Populated primarily by German immigrants, the area was home to textile mills and breweries, many
of which are still standing. During the 1870s, the demographics shifted, as Polish immigrants began
to move into the area, while the German descendents began to relocate to other parts of the city. A
further ethnic shift occurred after World War I, as Latino immigrants began to settle into the area,
becoming the area’s predominant group. Together with the adjacent Historic Near-South
neighborhood, this community has both Wisconsin’s largest Hispanic population and the state’s
highest population density.
Although the area is rich historically, it has never been rich economically. As of 1990, 40
percent of the families living in the area fell below the poverty line. The average income was only
$17,714. Still, visitors to the area would most likely be shocked to hear those figures. The area
homes are primarily freestanding houses, complete with small, typically well-manicured plots. The
streets are lined with fairly new cars, in enough abundance to suggest that residents do not fear
vandalism or theft. One might be tempted to think that if this is truly Milwaukee’s poorest
neighborhood, the city has few problems.
Residents know better. And, because of several recent, high-profile events, the conflicts
within the community are receiving outside attention. For decades, Walker’s Point and Historic
Near-South (hereafter collectively referred to as WP/HNS) have been subject to wars between rival
Latino gangs. Although all agree that the violence has escalated in recent years, the threat of gang
violence has been present since at least the late 1970s, when rival factions of the Spanish Cobras and
the Latin Kings began staking out turf.
Many gangs have their roots in Chicago, and initially saw Milwaukee as virgin territory ready
to be annexed. Over time, the Milwaukee chapters grew from a few disciples to thriving
brotherhoods. At present, there are several established Latino gangs alternately battling for
supremacy in the area. Some of the best known gangs are:
1
*Dedicated in loving memory to Carlos Hernandez.
14
•
•
•
•
•
The Latin Kings, known as the largest and one of the oldest gangs in the area.
They hold the largest single chunk of turf in WP/HNS, as well as several small
islands throughout the city.
La Familia, a smaller gang, with turf adjacent to the Latin Kings.
The Unknowns, the local chapter of an old and well-established gang, which, like
the Latin Kings, got their real start in Chicago. The two gangs have a friendly
relationship in Chicago, but relations are strained in Milwaukee.
The Spanish Cobras, which disbanded for a period, but seem to be on the rise.
The Mexican Posse, which gained notoriety for its feud with the Latin Kings.
This gang has a reputation for being small, young, and extremely violent.
The inherent instability of youth gangs contributes to the problem of proliferation. Splinter
groups routinely develop out of established gangs, usually over drug distribution rights or leadership
disputes. Naturally, these splits result in heated animosity and often violence. An example of such a
splinter group are the “2-1’s,” who were once a group of younger Latin Kings known as the “Junior
Kings.”
Because of the influx of gang activity from Chicago and the splintering of existing gangs,
Milwaukee now has approximately 25 street gangs throughout the city. In addition to the gangs
mentioned above, WP/HNS is also home to the “Latin Disciples,” the “3rd Street Posse,” and the
“Nasty Boys,” as well as numerous smaller subsets. In addition, several of the gangs in WP/HNS
have ongoing feuds with gangs from other parts of the city -- for instance, the Latin Kings foster a
hated rivalry with the “Eastside Mafioso,” a cross-town splinter group of the Kings.
The Threat of Violence -- What Is It Costing?
Every gang has several distinguishing features. Each has its own colors (for instance, black
and white for the Unknowns, or black and gold for the Latin Kings). In addition, each gang typically
adopts a side, left or right, and displays this by taking to one side of the street, tilting baseball caps to
one side, and shifting belt buckles over by one loop.
But, by far, the most significant, visible, and obvious sign of gang activity is graffiti.
Although it is quite possible that a casual observer might walk through WP/HMS and not see any
signs of gang activity, a trained eye would quickly pick up frightening amounts of information. From
the graffiti, which often looks like nonsensical scribbling, an expert can often deduce not only which
gang is responsible, but the artist’s “streetname” (all members have one), the extent of a gang
member’s criminal activity, whether the artist has been to jail, who the gang’s chief rival is, and, in
some instances, if the gang is planning to attack. Further, the graffiti usually indicates whether the
gang is part of the “People” (indicated by a downward pitchfork) or “Folk” (indicated by an upward
fork) Nation. These are nationwide umbrellas covering a loose affiliation of gangs, across cities and
ethnic groups (however, it is not unusual for different gangs of the same nation to be at war with
each other).
Though unsightly, the graffiti was typically seen by community members as innocuous, often
illegible. While residents were certainly annoyed by the prospect of removing the graffiti from their
homes, they knew that the graffiti was seldom directed at them _ they were unlucky, but
nevertheless random, victims, and had no reason to suspect themselves targets of a future robbery
or act of violence. Like the gangs themselves, the graffiti was just a fact of life.
These days, the graffiti takes on much more significance in certain areas. Because of the
heightened awareness of gang activity, the scrawlings are more evidence to people in the community
15
that anyone can be a victim, especially in areas in close proximity to sites of high profile crimes. A
manager of a restaurant near St. Anthony’s Church related the economic ramifications of graffiti.
Because some gang related scribbling nearby convinced customers that they were in an area still
under constant threats of gang violence, he had trouble filling his restaurant at night, even during his
busiest season. Before long, he could not attract enough patrons to cover operating costs at night,
and he had to close during daylight hours. The vandalism, though it was removed promptly, cost
him thousands of dollars.
Consumers, establishment owners, and local businessmen all have suffered. But none of
these groups are nearly as threatened as the area youth, who must choose between the gang lifestyle,
which can often appear glamorous, or resisting gang affiliation, which can often appear lonely and
dangerous.
Don Krieger is principal of South Division High School, and he discusses his school’s
problems with remarkable candor. Dealing with the gang influence is an intricate ordeal, he explains,
because they dictate the fashions, styles, and slang to everyone else. In short, teachers cannot tell a
young person that gang membership is not a prerequisite to being cool, because the gangs dictate
what is cool. While Krieger and his staff try to prevent gang members from wearing obvious signs of
affiliation on campus, the problem is impossible because, as Krieger says, “anything can be a
symbol.”
When gang affiliation is a key to social status, and the threat of gang violence is present
whether or not they join, it is small wonder that diverting youth from gangs is a problem. In fact,
many see joining a gang as the only protection from violence. Gang violence becomes a vicious
cycle, difficult to break.
The community is trying many approaches. There are more centers offering more social
services in this neighborhood than any other in the state. And while all of these centers deal
continuously with the perils of turf war, they themselves recognize the problems of overlap, in terms
of both geography and services. As Ernesto Chacon of the Federation for Civic Action describes it,
“Whole lot of money and nothing getting done.” But as Ramon Candelaria of the Milwaukee
Christian Center said recently, “If we stop trying, we might as well be dead.”
16
Gangs and Youth Violence in Stevens Point
Tim Casper, Julie Lassa, Abe Rabinowitz
To a casual observer Stevens Point appears to reinforce the stereotypical notion of small
town Midwestern America. A drive around town reveals a well-kept community with abundant park
space, modest homes, and apparently no “bad” neighborhoods. People are friendly, and no typical
signs of trouble are apparent. The demographic statistics also reinforce the image. Stevens Point is
predominantly white, with a small, but visible Hmong community as well as small African American
and Latino populations. Though not the exact vision of the small town setting of Leave it to Beaver
or Pleasantville, it’s pretty close. City residents, however, are hesitant to confirm this perception.
Built on the Wisconsin River, Stevens Point is home to approximately 25,000 citizens and is
described as economically stable. It houses a paper plant, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point,
and is the headquarters for a large insurance company. There is little unemployment in the
community and few families on public assistance. All of these characteristics support the positive
stereotype that community members are hesitant to accept. In speaking with citizens about gangs
and youth violence, it became clear that part of their reluctance to accept the problem-free
characterization stems from problems the city has witnessed with its youth. A closer look at the
specific problems the community has experienced with gangs and youth violence reveals deeper
community problems that need to be addressed.
Among community members that regularly deal with gang issues, there is consensus that the
emergence of “wannabe” gang activity occurred in the late 1980s. In describing gang activity in
Stevens Point, it is important to approach the problem from three perspectives: the larger
community, law enforcement, and the schools.
Community Perspective
Though the community is generally aware of gang activity, they do not perceive gangs as a
serious problem. Most citizens claim that the community mainly has “wannabe” gang members, but
some recent events have sparked more serious concern. Last year, a pizza delivery boy was brutally
beaten with baseball bats by three Stevens Point youth as a gang initiation ritual. The beating was
ordered by a gang member in jail and was intended to formalize youth participation in local gangs,
including a local arm of the national Gangster Disciples gang and an affiliate, the Simon City Royals.
The boys ordered several pizzas and when the delivery boy arrived viciously beat him with baseball
bats, robbed him, and vandalized his car. In a similar incident, a local girl was badly beaten with
baseball bats by a group of girls who were ordered to commit the battery by their gang leader who
received orders from a Milwaukee man. During the past year approximately 40 guns were stolen
from a local sporting goods store, a crime that has been attributed to a local gang. Recent drive-by
shootings and the arrest of a local youth who made a pipe bomb have not been linked to gang
behavior, but certainly represent a more dangerous trend of youth violence in the community.
While these incidents are not typical, they do indicate that hard-core gang activity and
violence have the potential to become more deeply rooted. The linkage of these events to gangs that
exist outside the community, indicates that recruitment efforts are ongoing and that more serious
gang activity is infiltrating the community. This increase in gang activity has also fostered the
perception that groups of youth dressed similarly and “hanging out” are gang members. While this
may be true in some circumstances, often youth are misidentified. This is especially true for Hmong
17
and other minority youth in the community. The appearance of more serious crimes and community
misunderstanding of the problem threatens to widen the natural gulf between adults and teenagers
and increase deviant youth behavior.
Community Response
These incidents sparked interest in the gang problem and resulted in strong calls for action.
The community has met these concerns primarily by issuing stiff legal penalties and heightening
suppression efforts. The youths in the pizza delivery incident were arrested and convicted on
charges ranging from armed robbery to criminal gang behavior and sentenced to jail terms from one
to fifteen years, depending on their level of participation in the beating. The woman who relayed the
Milwaukee-based order to the girls who is currently facing trial. The girls who committed the beating
were convicted and sentenced to terms in correctional facilities. Those tough sentences were
intended not only to punish those guilty of the crime, but also to deter those considering similar
behaviors.
While the community response is most clearly reflected by deterrence through punishment,
other preventive activities also take place. An informal group meets to discuss youth issues including
gang violence, which allows community leaders to update one another on youth activities. Also,
several nonprofit organizations, including the YMCA, CAP Services, Big Brothers/Big Sisters,
Family Crisis Center, and the Family Resource Center, provide services that support community
youth and the gang problem indirectly.
The YMCA has a beautiful sports complex that includes a swimming pool, a large gym, a
gymnastics area, weight and fitness room, and racquetball courts. The youth program also arranges
trips for kids. These trips provide supervised development opportunities for youth who rarely leave
the community. While the agency has been successful in providing services to the area’s youth,
including many described as at risk, it continues to look for ways to reach out to community youth
and involve them in productive activities.
CAP Services provides a wide array of services to the community’s low-income members,
including the community’s 200 Hmong families. CAP works hard to help these families integrate
into Stevens Point and the United States. They also try to educate community members about the
challenges the Hmong face and to debunk the myths that circulate about them (e.g., that they are all
on welfare, that they eat pets, or don’t have to pay taxes) . Staff are committed and dedicated, but
face an uphill battle and limited resources. Leaders noticed negative effects on Hmong families from
Wisconsin Works (W-2) and have identified increased parent education, mentoring, and other
programs to help support the successful integration of the Hmong into the Stevens Point.
Community education about the Hmong and their cultural differences is seen as vital to successful
integration efforts.
Big Brothers/Big Sisters matches youth seeking mentors with high school students and
adults who volunteer to provide a positive example. Although the organization is limited to taking
“manageable” cases because its volunteer base is small, it actively encourages participation and is as
flexible as possible in providing mentor services for children seeking additional guidance. Though
likely not a solution for youth involved in significant trouble, mentor programs such as Big
Brothers/Big Sisters help to provide youth with additional adult leadership outside of their
immediate family.
The Family Resource and Family Crisis Centers provide preventive and ongoing support as
well as crisis intervention for families in need of assistance. The Family Resource Center runs
programs for parents seeking help in managing the multiple challenges of parenthood, while the
18
Family Crisis Center responds to calls for help from families confronted with difficult family
situations. These programs help to remedy hard situations and can work to discourage delinquent
youth behavior.
Community businesses and the United Way were also identified as supportive of community
efforts and as possible collaborators in prevention efforts. United Way currently funds some of the
above programs, and local businesses including Sentry Insurance and the Stevens Point Brewery
were identified as supporters of community-building projects.
The community is clearly intolerant of gang and violent youth behavior and has expressed
that intolerance through support for strong punishments for youth who become involved in gangs.
The community also has many strong resources to support its youth and families. It is unclear,
however, whether these resources have been used to their capacity to prevent or intervene to
prevent gang or delinquent behavior.
Law Enforcement Perspective
The escalation of gang activity in neighboring Wausau most likely influenced youth in
surrounding communities and Stevens Point. While much of the gang activity has been attributed to
Laotian and Hmong youth, the problem has not been limited to those groups.
Law enforcement has identified a number of gangs active in Stevens Point and the
surrounding area. These include the Gangster Disciples; the Simon City Royals, an affiliate of the
Gangster Disciples; the Latin Kings, from the Wautoma area; the Latin Counts; and 27 Strong, an
independent gang. Evidence of their presence in the community includes tagging (graffiti), hand
signs, and acts of violence, burglary, and vandalism.
Local officers note that gang members are fairly mobile and have exported their activities to
the Stevens Point area from the Fox Valley, Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, and neighboring
communities. Within Stevens Point and the surrounding region, these gangs have attempted to
recruit and expand their membership. The favorite gang recruitment spot was a local dance club at
the Wednesday evening teen nights. There, recruiters spoke with youth and identified those who did
not seem to have strong parental support or guidance. Their recruitment rhetoric emphasized the
family-oriented nature of the gang and its provision of protection and support.
Law Enforcement Response
To counteract these recruitment efforts, the Police Department and the Portage County
Sheriff’s Department assigned and specially trained a detective to handle gang activity. Both agencies
have taken a proactive and firm stance regarding gang activity and youth violence. Efforts to quell
gang behavior have included video and photo surveillance of possible gang members. Officers have
also attempted to engage recruiters in conversation to send the message that their efforts are
monitored by police and are unwanted in the community. Law enforcement officials feel that these
visible actions have helped limit the growth of gang activity in the community. They continue to
update a logbook with pictures and profiles of confirmed and potential gang members. As one law
enforcement official put it, “If we receive a report of gang activity we will place officers there until
the gang leaves or we catch those involved.”
The gang specialists within the county and city police departments continue to speak with
civic organizations, school administrators, parents, churches, the business community, and anyone
else interested in gangs and gang activity in Stevens Point and Portage County. Through their
community outreach law enforcement officials feel that they have a good system for handling gang
19
activity in the area. However, they are continually looking for new and innovative ways to improve
their efforts.
Other programs that indirectly discourage gang activity are community policing, Quick $50,
and Crime Stoppers. Community policing is an interactive approach to police work that connects
police and residents on a more personal level. Quick $50 is a program that offers a cash reward to
students for anonymous, valid tips regarding weapons, drugs, or alcohol in school. The program is
advertised to students in their handbooks and on posters around school buildings. Crime Stoppers is
a community-wide program that fosters information gathering on crimes committed throughout the
county. As with the Quick $50 program it is also anonymous. Currently, Crime Stoppers is offering a
reward for the aforementioned drive-by shootings.
Another program is the Gang Resistance Education and Training program (GREAT).
GREAT is designed to educate youth about the dangers of gangs and youth violence. The Portage
County Sheriff’s Department is trained to present the program and actively teaches it to youth in the
county.
School Perspective
Stevens Point is home to the largest high school in the state—Stevens Point Area Senior
High School (SPASH)—and there are two junior high schools within the school district—P.J.
Jacobs and Ben Franklin. While the high school has openly acknowledged issues of youth and gang
violence, the junior high schools have been reluctant to connect violence to gang activity. Last year,
the two junior high schools together placed 166 calls to the Stevens Point Police Department.
Though these calls are not proof of gang activity, one community member noted that her child, a
junior high school student, knows that gangs exist and could identify youth in these gangs or
“wannabe” groups. The young person said that students are not coerced into gang behavior and that
it could be avoided. Another youth indicated, however, that students who engage in gang-related
behavior intimidate their fellow students.
Though gang members may intimidate other students, fights and other obvious delinquent
behaviors are not regularly associated with gang activity. One young person mentioned that she
heard people talk about fights as gang-related, but did not personally view altercations in this
manner. When asked whether these students were in gangs, she responded that much of the gang
activity is more about bragging than actually following through on negative behaviors. It appears
that school fights cannot be directly connected to gangs, but it seems logical to see these behaviors
as indicators of potential gang activity.
Officials at the high school identified a potential gang problem about ten years ago and
began to take steps to address the issue. In the schools, some students are identified as gang
members because of their manner of dress and the activities they engage in such as skateboarding,
gathering in public places, or tagging(creating graffiti). Though not all of these students are gang
members, their presence and behaviors and the community’s association of these indicators with
gang activity make gang behavior an issue relevant to school administration.
School officials noted that students who engage in gang activity do not necessarily wear
identifiable clothing, have other markings, or engage in other behaviors typical of gang members.
Rather, more subtle behaviors may be indicators. Truancy and youth who do not live at home were
two of the most central concerns. Truant students fall behind in their studies and begin to separate
from school. One school leader mentioned that some parents enable this behavior because they
permit their children to stay at home and may also allow their children’s friends to hang out at their
house during school. Some of these students are regularly truant because they no longer live with
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their parents, even though by law they are too young to live alone. These behaviors allow for too
much independence among youths and lead them to experiment with delinquent behaviors that tend
to get more serious without appropriate intervention.
Leaders within the school system and those outside of it also identified racism as an key
issue in the community and the schools. Within the school-aged population the effects of racism are
visible in the interaction between Hmong and what community members described as “redneck”
youth. Tensions between these two groups of young people have led to violence in the past.
For young Hmong people in the schools, racism is not the only issue. A tension also exists
between values of the traditional Hmong culture and the majority American culture. Some young
Hmong students may reject the values of their culture, but might not fully understand the American
values they are trying to embrace. This creates additional difficulties for young Hmong people and
their relationships with their families and peers, and cause Hmong students to rely more strongly on
one another. While this reliance is partly cultural, it also reflects their need for protection from
school groups that are biased against them. This group behavior results in both the perception of
and actual gang-related behaviors.
School Response
Schools have responded to the issue of gangs and youth violence primarily through
suppression strategies. The Stevens Point Area School Board recently decided to place police
liaisons in the junior high schools. The liaisons will be full-time members of the Stevens Point Police
Department and will work at the schools to address issues of youth and gang violence and facilitate
communication between the schools and the police. This communication role served by the liaison
is important because it ensures that both the schools and the police are aware of any potential issues
related to young people that may develop at school or within the community.
This policy is an extension of one that already exists at the high school. Stevens Point Area
Senior High School (SPASH) has a full-time police liaison and two security officers on campus to
ensure that the school is a safe place. In addition to these personnel, the school also has a
sophisticated security system with non-obtrusive cameras located throughout the school and the
student parking lot. Additionally, SPASH has a policy in place to address youth violence and gang
issues. The policy, entitled “Antisocial or Criminal Activity by Students,” explains the school board’s
position on gang and criminal activity. The policy also outlines a criterion of fifteen points that it
uses to identify gang member affiliation and is cross-referenced with school disciplinary policies.
To complement this formal policy, one school official suggested that programs designed to
prevent students from engaging in anti-social behavior should be integrated into the curriculum of
the schools. These programs have students examine themselves and their beliefs and consider the
ramifications of discriminatory and criminal behavior. Although these programs are used in schools,
they are only offered to a very limited number of students.
One school leader believes that the design of the policies and programs aimed at eliminating
youth and gang violence issues are most effective when they do not punish the vast majority of
students who are not disruptive. Instead, effective policies and programs need to treat young people
with respect, yet clearly articulate what is and is not acceptable behavior. While it is clear that
policies to prevent gang and violent youth behavior should not encroach upon the rights of innocent
students, it is important that clear intervention strategies are in place that prevent youth from
experimenting with delinquent behavior and from becoming more serious criminals. Noticeably
absent from the discussion of school efforts to address issues of youth and gang violence was the
role of counselors and social workers. Although these staff people exist and work to address these
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issues, there was no mention of specific programs or services that were provided by them for at-risk
students.
SPASH has had a positive experience with the Police Liaison program and has pointed to
the benefits of the positive communication between the schools and police in identifying problems
within the schools. The addition of police liaisons in the junior high schools will extend those
benefits to them. What the program seems to lack, however, is an intervention strategy that
identifies youth on the verge of problematic behavior and a way to refer them to community
resources. An impediment to this kink of intervention strategy is the difficulty in sharing
information among the schools, law enforcement, and social service agencies. Recent changes to
state law governing issues of privacy for minors have complicated the matter, but without clear lines
of communication among these agencies, a successful intervention strategy is unlikely to emerge.
Root Causes
The above discussion suggests that underlying racial tension, the difficulties of cross-cultural
immigration, and youth who are not living with their parents are the root causes of delinquent youth
behavior in Stevens Point. Focusing briefly on these issues underscores their importance and reveals
the challenges the community faces in addressing its issues of gang and youth violence.
Underlying racial tension does exist in Stevens Point, particularly between the Hmong and
white youth. This tension has been manifested in traditional youth group conflicts such as arranged
fights. One communitiy member reported that it was common to hear of fights at the bowling alley
between Hmong and “redneck” youth. Several other distinctions between youth groups were
offered including “jocks,” and “dopers.” That a racial rather than a social distinction separates the
Hmong highlights their isolation from the more traditional community. This isolation can be further
inferred through the persistence of various myths about the Hmong. Stories of blatant racism
include an instance of an older woman who leaned out of her truck to curse at two Hmong children
who were crossing the street hand in hand and ordered them to “go back to where you came from.”
This underlying tension is passed on to community youth who develop cliques, gangs, and other
negative groups that either rally around or protect against this hatred.
The source of this isolation can be attributed to both a misunderstanding of the Hmong
culture among the larger community and problems the Hmong have had in integrating into the
larger society. The self-reliance, adherence to tradition, and mobility between communities and
among families are Hmong traits which have been misiterpreted by the large community as an
attempt to remain essentially separate. One interviewee also noted that community behavior toward
the Hmong has been inconsistent, which has sent mixed signals and has confused parents already
struggling to integrate into the community and understand its expectations of them. This problem
contributes to community difficulty with outreach efforts and deters the development of common
friendships among youths.
Because many Hmong are first generation immigrants and rely primarily on other Hmong
families for support, many adults lack a strong command of English. Hmong children, however,
attend school, learn English, and adopt many American traits. Because they understand English,
they have more power in their homes and may have more freedom than other youth their age. Not
only does their understanding of American culture allow them this power of self-determination, it
also leaves them with an identity crisis. Caught between the traditional mores of their parents and
their own perceptions of what it means to be American, Hmong children are left at a crossroads that
is difficult to navigate without adult support. Without a full understanding of what it means to be
Hmong and only a self-developed sense of what it means to be American, these children have little
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guidance and rely on one another to navigate their way to adulthood. This need for peer support is
one of the primary reasons for joining a gang. Given the situation of Hmong children, it is not
surprising that they are inclined toward communal, gang-like behavior.
Though the Hmong present the most obvious problem for the community, similar tensions
exist toward other minority groups. African American and Latino community members are also
easily distinguishable in the largely white community, and they too experience racial tension. One
Latino man confirmed the feeling of isolation to a community member who had publicly challenged
the community to deal with its racial problem. This Latino man, who had resided in Stevens Point
for seventeen years, expressed relief that someone had said publicly what he has felt internally
throughout his years in the community.
A common theme in many of our interviews was the perception that traditional families
were breaking down at an increasing rate and that de facto “youth emancipation” was becoming
more common. In many ways, youth freedom has the same effect as the Hmong youth
empowerment through integration. Young people are forced to make decisions before they properly
understand consequences. When confronted with difficult situations they rely on peers who are in
similar situations, and strong associations are formed. This behavior has manifested itself in
occasional youth runaway and truancy problems. Many runaways go to live with older friends or
with other families. These types of associations closely resemble the type of bonds found in many
gangs, and the negative behaviors that emanate from such associations are predictable.
With underlying racial tension and a subculture of unmonitored youth as core causes, the
Stevens Point community faces large challenges in protecting itself from youth and gang violence.
Clearly these factors reinforce negative youth behaviors and must be addressed in order for the
community to prevent further and more serious incidents. Progress on these issues will likely have
spillover effects that will be equally positive in building a stronger and more supportive community.
Conclusion
Traditionally, three different types of strategies have been used to combat gangs and youth
violence issues: prevention, intervention, and suppression. The primary focus of efforts to deal with
these issues within Stevens Point has been on suppression. As a community, Stevens Point has a
number of efforts in place to address issues of youth and gang violence when such incidents occur.
The police and community strongly discourage gang activity by punishing perpetrators and seeking
out “kingpins” to stop gang activity at its root. Schools also act strongly by identifying youth
violence and gang-related issues. Though general prevention efforts are in place including programs
like community policing, unobtrusive security at the high school, and the preventive services
provided by the nonprofit community, there is not a strong connection between these efforts. While
there are several organizations that work toward addressing the identified root problems, it does not
appear that they are connected to a larger community prevention or intervention strategy. The
challenge is to integrate and build on existing resources to develop a strong and integrated
community approach.
Creation of an integrated approach must confront and seek solutions to the root causes
identified above. With several nonprofit organizations, an active police force, solid educational
institutions, concerned community members, and a supportive business community, Stevens Point
has a wealth of resources at its disposal. The challenge for the citizens of Stevens Point, and the
conference group, is to find ways to work with one another to create a holistic, community-based
strategy that builds on current suppression and prevention efforts and identifies appropriate
prevention and intervention strategies.
23
Oneida: Youth, Culture, Gangs, and Cooperation
Kelli Marciel and Debra Meyer
The Oneida of Wisconsin face a complex set of issues in dealing with gang and youth
violence. Tribal government must work with two Wisconsin counties that the reservation overlaps
(Brown and Outagamie) as well as the city of Green Bay. Though Green Bay is the largest
neighboring city, several smaller communities that ring the reservation are also influential because
Oneida youth attend schools in five different districts. Dealing effectively with youth internally is
tricky as well, as the Oneida have seen significant demographic and economic change in recent years.
An appreciation of the practical challenges facing the tribe, as well as the community’s cultural
background and traditions, is central to understanding where the Oneida are today.
Modern History
After the Oneida’s forced transition to Wisconsin from native lands in New York in the
early 1800s, they had little economic opportunity if they wished to reside on the reservation.
Substandard living conditions and lack of employment were prevalent through the 1950s and
beyond, and as a result many Oneida left the reservation. By the 1970s the exodus slowed. Changes
in federal block grant policies, a new tribal government structure, reclamation of tribal lands to a
total of almost 10,000 acres, and the passage of the Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 allowed for
renewed economic growth for the Oneida Nation. Today the Nation has invested in schools,
community centers, housing, a local police force, a day care center, and industrial enterprises
including retail stores, a printing company, an electronics facility, community farms, and a premier
casino and hotel complex. By 1995, employment exceeded 3,600, compared with just nine in 1969.
With this increase in economic stability, many Oneida who had left the community began to
return to tribal lands. Some of the current residents are Oneida who never left. Others were born in
the community and have returned to raise their families after spending some time away for
schooling and work opportunities.
Though the tribal community welcomes this growth, it brings a challenging mixing of
cultures. Families who have lived in other parts of the state or country bring back different
perspectives and experiences. The vast majority of gang behavior seen thus far in Oneida can be
easily traced to families who have lived in larger cities in the region and returned to the reservation.
Culture: “Through the Seventh Generation”
Besides bringing with them the influences of urban areas an additional concern to the
community is that those returning may have lost touch with their Oneida cultural roots. Taking a
very long-range view in keeping with their cultural traditions, the Oneida have made a commitment
to preserve their heritage and language through the next seven generations. This commitment
includes providing immediate needs of food, shelter, education, and security as well as protecting the
land and the environment for the current population and those to follow.
To fulfill the Seventh Generation Commitment, the Oneida have built a strong social
services structure to provide family, youth, educational, and substance abuse treatment services, but
formal agencies are not the only source of assistance for families in need. The Oneida exhibit a
strong sense of sharing in their neighbors’ challenges. Problems do not belong simply to individuals
or households but to the community as a whole. Frequently, for example, youth having personal or
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family problems are taken in by other families in the community to help get through a tough time.
This is often done through informal community networks rather than through formal legal channels.
Onayota’Aka (Oneida) Gang Prevention Task Force
Among the challenges posed by the recent growth in the Oneida community is the
emergence of organized gang activity. In 1994, officials noted gang-affiliated graffiti at one of the
housing sites. Lois Dalke, an official with the Oneida Housing Authority called on the Oneida Police
Department for help in dealing with the vandalism and the underlying problem it revealed. Detective
Mark Ninham, in turn, sought guidance from Jim Swanson of the Green Bay Police Department,
which had been dealing with organized gang activity since 1992. The Onayota’Aka (Oneida) Gang
Prevention Task Force was formed from these discussions. The task force’s first official meeting
was held in October 1995 and was attended by law enforcement personnel from Oneida, Green Bay,
and DePere, as well as a former gang member.
At the time of the task force’s creation, members’ primary concern was with the apparent
activity occurring in Oneida housing facilities. The task force’s early work resulted in a change in
housing regulations to reflect a new “zero tolerance” policy regarding both drugs and gang activity:
residents could be evicted following an infraction. Families involved were removed from housing
shortly after the new policy took effect, sending the message that gang activity would not be
tolerated.
In addition, an informational brochure targeted at parents was developed and distributed
widely in the community. It described indicators of gang involvement or influence and suggested
early strategies for parents who suspect their children are involved in gang activity. Housing has also
conducted surveys of housing residents to assess the needs and perceptions of gang activity at the
various housing sites.
A tragic event sparked a renewal of the task force’s activity, which current members describe
as a “rejuvenation process” that is ongoing. In 1997 a child was beaten severely at an Oneida
community recreation center. Officials suspect that the perpetrators were affiliated with the Latin
Kings. The perpetrators were reportedly incarcerated, and their families were evicted, but the
incident highlighted how the problems had increased in severity.
Disturbed by this apparent escalation of gang activity—from petty vandalism to extreme
violence—many more concerned employees of Oneida’s social services, education, and law
enforcement circles joined in the task force’s work. Since the beating incident, members have
formalized the task force’s structure and developed a comprehensive set of goals and objectives that
incorporate prevention and intervention strategies. Virtually all Oneida organizations involved
directly with youth and/or crime are represented on the task force. Participants come from the
following programs and agencies.
Tribal Education
In 1994, the Turtle School opened, serving Oneida children from kindergarten through
eighth grade. In addition, a tribal high school operates out of the same facility as the Oneida
Business Committee. Together, the two tribal schools serve approximately 500 Oneida students.
This includes a drop in enrollment at Turtle School since its opening, from 500 to 360. Most of
these former students now attend one of the surrounding schools (Seymore, Freedom, or Pulaski)
even though they live on tribal land. The remaining majority of school age Oneida children in the
area—approximately 675—attend school in the five districts surrounding the reservation, per their
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parents’ preference. Many community and youth activities are held at Turtle School and when
necessary, Oneida Transportation Services are used to ensure that students living or attending school
off tribal land are able to attend.
Youth Education Services (YES)
At the high school level, Oneida youth attend the tribal school and five others. To address
this dispersion and the isolation that can result, the Tribe provides a Student Advocate (SA) for
Oneida and other American Indian students in each of the neighboring schools that tribal youth
attend. These advocates, most often trained in social work or counseling, represent an adult on
campus with whom Oneida youth may relate more easily than other school staff. Student advocates
report that the issues faced by students vary from school to school. In area rural schools like
Freedom and Seymour for example, Oneida youth are typically the only significant minority group.
In Green Bay and DePere schools on the other hand, student bodies are more diverse, including
black, Hispanic, Asian and other American Indian students. Student advocates often act as academic
and personal counselors and provide culturally based guidance and resources. Thanks to cooperation
with federal Title IX Indian Education program personnel, Oneida student advocates often serve
other American Indian students in those schools as well, avoiding overlapping and redundant
services.
Social Services
Oneida Tribal Social Services administers comprehensive programs providing personal and
family counseling, alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA) services, senior citizen programs, group
homes for youth, and economic support. Social Services staff who are most directly involved with
youth issues have been an early and active part of the task force.
Child Care
The Tribe operates a comprehensive child care center that serves children from infants to
age five. Before- and after-school care for school-aged children through third grade is also provided
at the same facility. In recent months, there has been at least one apparently gang-related incident in
which a group of girls aged 7-11 planned to cause harm to a teacher. Center personnel believe that
quick response to warning signs effectively stemmed the problem before any violence occurred.
Housing
Following its early efforts that were focused primarily on suppression strategies for dealing
with gangs’ issues, the Oneida Housing Authority has also been active in prevention efforts.
Officials have organized “Take Back the Site” events at each of the reservation’s recreation sites,
where after-school programs are conducted. These well-attended events were designed to give
community members a sense of involvement and ownership in the recreation areas. Community
members—adults and youths—gathered at each center for a meal and presentations by guest
speakers. In addition, the investment of resources and new personnel at one of the recreation sites is
held as a success story where vandalism and violence were once a problem. Today, attendance has
increased and youth view the center as a safe and fun place to spend the potentially difficult hours
between school and parents’ return from work. Cultural education is incorporated into many
activities at these recreation sites, and plans are under way for a renewed emphasis on academic
support as well.
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Police
The Oneida Police Department (OPD) was formed thirteen years ago amid considerable
tension with the law enforcement agencies that had previously held jurisdiction in the area. In recent
years however, cooperative relationships have been fostered. As a result, OPD, the sheriff’s
departments of Brown and Outagamie counties, and the Green Bay Police Department collaborate
frequently on specific cases and issues of concern. Early interaction with the Green Bay Police
Department on gang concerns was seminal in forging these relationships. Currently, a consortium of
area law enforcement agencies from Oneida, Green Bay, Ashwaubenon, DePere, UW-Green Bay,
and Pulaski is working toward securing funding to allow the installation of a laptop-accessible
information system in area squad cars to share information. Most of the schools Oneida youth
attend have a police liaison officer on campus. These officers provide a police presence on school
campuses and assist the OPD as well as other law enforcement agencies in the area to identify and
address potentially dangerous activity.
As evidenced by a recent series of articles in the Green Bay Press Gazette, the gang problem
in Green Bay has grown. Though the overall number of gang incidents has decreased, the severity of
the incidents has increased. Green Bay is a natural gathering spot for all youth of the area, including
the Oneida. Thus the problems experienced in Green Bay will likely spill back to the smaller
surrounding communities. Working together on these issues is important for the Oneida and the
greater Green Bay community, and collaboration is often first seen among police departments.
Religion and Culture
There is currently no formal representation of tribal or other churches on the task force. A
minister from the local Methodist church was an active member at one time, but since his departure
from the community, no others have joined. The student advocates and recreation centers provide
opportunities for Oneida youth to engage in cultural awareness activities. At Freedom High School
for example, advocate Paul Ninham offers students opportunities to participate in Longhouse and
sweat lodge ceremonies with Oneida elders as a way of strengthening connections between Oneida
youth and their community and spiritual traditions.
Parents
Beyond their professional roles, many members of the task force are also parents of Oneida
youth, and thus bring that perspective to the table as well. Even among those who are not parents,
task force members gain insight into community youths’ interests, attitudes, and behaviors through
personal ties with extended family and friends. One task force member, who is a parent and herself
grew up in the community, shared the notion that so many of the families are related to one another
that there are very few secrets, and “word gets around” quickly.
Tribal Government
A nine-member Business Committee, elected by the General Tribal Council of which all
12,000 enrolled adult Oneidas are members, is responsible for administering the operations of the
Tribal government. Currently, the Business Committee is represented on the task force by an
assistant to one of the Council members. This connection is important as the task force works
toward securing funding for the various projects it is undertaking. Until now, the task force’s
activities have been supported through members’ agency budgets. For example, though the task
force was involved in organizing and publicizing the “Take Back the Site” events, funding came
27
through the Oneida Housing Authority. A subcommittee of the task force is currently developing a
formal proposal for the Business Committee seeking official recognition and specific funding. If
successful, one plan is to hire a staff member through Americorps to facilitate the work of the task
force.
Looking Ahead
Several task force members express enthusiasm for the notion that the Oneida culture
provides a unique opportunity for dealing with youth issues. Cultural traditions are seen as
something that youth can hold on to and feel a part of, thereby better enabling them to resist the
sense of acceptance that is often an attraction of gang affiliation. This desire to prevent gang activity
by working to instill in youth an appreciation and investment in their native culture is reflected in the
goals of the task force. Indeed, in recent months the task force has returned to the practice of
opening its meetings with a recitation of the Kanuwelatuksla—the Oneida thanksgiving prayer.
Members also caution, however, that an exclusive focus on culture may not work for all youth, and
thus nonculturally based strategies must also be developed.
Current plans of the task force include:
• Development of crisis response teams. These teams will each be composed of
one individual trained in gangs intervention strategies, and one individual familiar
with Oneida cultural practice and holistic approaches to intervention. Once
established, these teams will be available on an on-call basis to assist in a variety
of crisis situations from violence to drug use to suicide attempts.
• Establishing a Student Advisory Committee as a permanent component of
the task force. The Student Advisory Committee will provide the task force with
a “reality check” on its activities for their relevance to youth, and assist in
planning appropriate alternative activities for Oneida youth. In keeping with the
task force’s planned timeline, a recruitment meeting has been held to elicit
support among youth for the project and attract individuals to serve on the
committee.
• Institute a mentoring program. This program, already under way, hopes to
link at-risk youth with a supportive adult. Specifically, the program targets youth
in danger of gang affiliation, teen pregnancy, or suicide. The Police Department,
social services groups, and other concerned adults in the community are working
on this program.
• Provide parenting classes. Weekly classes have already begun at the Three
Sisters site and are planned for all of the Oneida housing sites.
The task force has high hopes. Beyond addressing the Tribe’s own concerns and challenges
concerning youth, including teen pregnancy and suicide, task force members hope that their efforts
will lead to the development of a model for youth intervention and prevention that will help other
tribes and communities. To this end, the task force has already formed an unprecedented
collaboration with the Menominee, Stockbridge, and Potawatomi tribes for a joint conference on
gangs. By combining financial resources, these tribes have secured a nationally recognized authority
on youth gang activity in Indian country for a commitment of two days in each of the four
communities. Wauneta Lone Wolf has spent one day with youth and parents and another with
community leaders.
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As is common in many communities, early attention to gang and youth violence issues in
Oneida focused on suppression of visible activity, primarily through penalties for youth perpetrating
crimes and for their families. As concerned residents learned more about gangs in general, however,
and about youth in their own community, more attention has been paid to intervention and
prevention strategies as well. Once in place, the task force’s proposed programs will combine all
three approaches—prevention efforts to keep youth from engaging in risky behaviors, intervention
efforts to assist when youth have succumbed to the temptations of gang involvement, and enhanced
law enforcement efforts to suppress known gang activity.
29