Partnership Controls Gangs
This recipe for success comes from a Washington, DC, neighborhood that has fought gang violence for the past few years: mix one part law enforcement, one part community, and one part city government, and you get a safer neighborhood.
In 2001, the Columbia Heights Weed and Seed convened the Task Force on Truancy/Substance Abuse/Youth Violence. The task force was created to offer a holistic, neighborhood-focused response and to coordinate information sharing and collaborative efforts among schools, government agencies, and community-based organizations that serve young people most vulnerable to gang/crew recruitment and violence. With the police chief and a city councilmember, the task force created the Gang Intervention Partnership (GIP).
GIP was created in response to a rash of violent Latino gang-related incidents in summer 2003. It brings together the Metropolitan Police Department, government agencies, community leaders, and community-based organizations to work collectively to reduce gang violence. Since the institution of GIP, no gang-related homicides have occurred in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.
The police created a specialized Latino Gang Intelligence Unit within GIP that identifies individuals who are involved in gangs and monitors their activities, arrests wanted gang members, and coordinates efforts with lead detectives in criminal investigations. The unit also educates school administrators, other school staff, and students about how to prevent gang-related violence.
GIP's focus on schools is particularly important in its efforts to stop problems from getting worse, explained Reverend John D. De Taeye of the Columbia Heights Shaw Family Support Collaborative.
"Prevention and intervention is working with building relationships of trust and partnership with school principals, attendance counselors, and school resource officers to be honest about what is happening in their schools," he said. "This is the heart of the work we do, building systems of support and communication and networking with and among schools, community organizations, and police."
Built on 4 years of localized gang intervention efforts, GIP meets weekly to coordinate its efforts, and its members observe a strict code of confidentiality. GIP designates hotspots for increased intervention and outreach, and tracks gang-related graffiti. Its members' dedication is obvious in their 24/7 oncall coverage.
"I sleep with my cell phone on next to my bed," Reverend De Taeye said. "If I am off, someone else has theirs on. We have direct lines to police officers, the United States Attorney's Office, and other systems that need to be moved when violence breaks out."
Last April, the House Committee on the Judiciary was considering enacting legislation that would use immigration controls to combat alien gang crime. Testifying before the committee, Mai Fernandez, the Chief Operating Officer of the Latin American Youth Center in Columbia Heights and a GIP member, said that punishing immigrant groups that have gang problems is inappropriate. Although a strong law enforcement response to gang problems is needed, he said, the perception that all gang members are destroying neighborhoods is incorrect.
"These kids are not super predators—they are kids looking for a sense of belonging. Most youth who are in gangs are not criminals," he said.
How GIP operates shows that its members understand this concept. GIP brings together police, probation officers, prosecutors, and community social service providers to develop intervention strategies for youth who are at a high risk of committing crimes. Often, it is a community member who brings a particular youth to GIP's attention. In other instances, youth come to GIP on their own because they want to change their lives, said Fernandez. Either way, GIP members work to ensure that the youth is supervised and is involved in structured activities. According to Fernandez, his center graduates approximately 70 youth a year who have advanced their education and are ready to find jobs.
Reverend De Taeye says he still looks for ways to increase community awareness of GIP. He feels he has the support and trust of the government, and he wants to hold more meetings to get the word out to the community about GIP's effectiveness.
For more information, contact:
Reverend John De Taeye
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