Nearly a hundred concerned citizens came together to work toward
thwarting local gang activity at the fourth community gang task
force meeting held Wednesday evening at R.O. Hardin School.
Hollister – Nearly a hundred concerned citizens came together to work toward thwarting local gang activity at the fourth community gang task force meeting held Wednesday evening at R.O. Hardin School.
“Tonight we are focusing on resources – what each of us as members of the community can bring to the table, whether that’s time or financial assistance,” said Police Chief Jeff Miller.
The meeting was held one day shy of the year anniversary of the task force’s first community meeting. Its last meeting was April 6.
“We’re at the stage where all the talking is over with, and it’s time to put our money where our mouth is,” said Police Captain Bob Brooks, a meeting facilitator. “It’s not so much a commitment of money that we need as a commitment of time, but we’ll take both.”
The gang task force has no budget, and attendees were challenged to identify steps that could be taken at no cost, or to determine where to look for funds. The task force has applied for a $1,000 grant to help with graffitti abatement.
Almost everyone at the meeting agreed that local churches and schools would be instrumental in providing space and volunteer power.
“Churches are wonderful untapped resources,” said Dianne Ortiz of the Hollister Youth Alliance. “They’re at the heart of this community and a central part of who we are to the Latino community.”
One of the first concerns to many attendees was simply communicating the task force’s findings to the community at large – both the fact that gangs have become an issue in San Benito County, and that programs have already been established to steer youth in the right direction.
“So many families have two parents working full time just to get by, and they can’t be there,” said Laurie Glynn, mother of two elementary school children. “If they know about these resources, they can tell their kids good places where they need to be after school or on Saturday nights. What scares me is that so many people don’t even know that there’s a gang problem in this community.”
It isn’t just parents who need an education on gang culture, either. Joe Garcia of San Jose’s Youth Gang Intervention program and Victory Outreach pointed out that the best way to stymie gang involvement is to talk to kids before they are ever exposed to a gang.
Linda Smith, principle of R.O. Hardin Elementary School, added that she frequently sees students as young as nine and 10 emulating gang behavior.
“A lot of kids don’t see themselves as gang members, they wear colors to identify with a subculture. That needs to be challenged,” said Garcia.
After the task force holds its board meeting November 30, they will begin looking for coordinators from the community to organize the volunteer efforts of existing programs and interested community members looking to help.
Many attendees signed up for the task force’s mailing list, and some have already volunteered to help as teachers or mentors for after-school programs.
“We’ve accomplished a number of things this year on no budget. We’ve identified the scope of the problem, causes and solutions,” said Miller. “Now we just need to match up ideas to resources.”
The next meeting will be held early next year, after the holidays. Those interested in volunteering with the gang task force can call the police at 636-4330.
