Westside Gang Prevention

 Westside Gang Prevention Consortium

Salt Lake City, Utah July 2008

By: J. Michael Clára, Secretary

THE ROMERO ALTERNATIVE is composed of a group of neighbors and organizations that have come together in an effort to stem the tide of gang violence in our westside, Salt Lake City communities.

On Sunday the 6^th of July 2008, Maria Del Carmen Menchaca, a 7 year old student at Riley Elementary was struck by a stray bullet in front of her house in a gang related drive by shooting. The following day one of our elected officials said “We are hoping it’s just a random act of gang violence …I think some of our crime statistics are down…” (Glendale Neighborhood Violent Crime In Glendale, KSL Talking Point -07/07/08). A couple of days later we received the report that Maria was buried next to her cousin who was also the victim of gang violence last year. We were told that his grave stone was adorned with “an LA Raiders hat shrouded by a blue bandana” (Devastated family buries girl killed in drive-by gang shooting, Salt Lake Tribune - 07/10/08). We have too much gang violence in our neighborhood, any is too much, and we have too much.

Not only is our community a casualty of gang violence, but even in the wake of this heartbreaking tragedy, we have elected officials and teenagers who are blinded to the pattern of destruction that is and has been occurring in their midst. Gratefully, the Salt Lake City police department made arrest on the heels of this murder. In fact, the SLC Police department has a consistent record of taking the most dangerous criminals off of our streets; we nevertheless recognize that we can’t simply arrest our way out of this type of lawlessness.

Duane Cardall admonished us to, “Let her death …become a focus for social action: for creating alternatives to whatever societal shortcomings breed gangsters…Indeed, let our collective mourning for Maria Menchaca reinvigorate efforts to combat the unacceptable plague of gang violence.” (End Gang Violence, KSL Editorial -7/11/08). It is to that end that a consortium of westside residents and organizations have banded together in order to implement gang prevention strategies throughout our community. Although gangs pose a significant threat to public safety, we believe this is actually a community issue that should be addressed through communitywide initiatives that strengthen and improve collaboration on City, County, school, private, faith-based and community-based gang prevention, intervention and suppression strategies.

We have chosen the name: THE ROMERO ALTERNATIVE in honor of El Salvadorian Archbishop Oscar Romero who in the early 80’s preached against violence in his country.

While he spoke out against violence brought on by a corrupt government, he wisely made the point that as soldiers they were killing their own brothers and sister. Sadly, In Salt Lake City, in 2008, we are faced with the same dilemma; it’s our children killing each other.

“When children who are searching for confidence don’t get it from a parent or caregiver, they often look for it in the streets, in the gangs. Joining is easy since gangs don’t ask for much in the way of a résumé or a formal education. They just want your soul, and every kid has one of those – at least when he or she signs up” (Come On People by Bill Cosby pg 205). We recognize that parents, family members and entire communities are the number one defense against a child becoming a part of a gang or choosing to participate in gang-like activities.

We intend to create comprehensive anti-gang solutions through the collaborative efforts and with support across the political spectrum from law enforcement, religious, social service, community and other civic leaders.

THE ROMERO ALTERNATIVE will focus its work in six major areas:

• Continue to support proactive law enforcement; ensuring that schools and neighborhoods remain safe.

• Bridging the gap; identifying and coordinating summer and after-school services for youth.

• Parental involvement and education; educating parents on the issues and signs of possible gang recruitment, involvement and resources available to assist both parents and youth.

• Service-provider awareness and engagement; improving gang awareness, communication and collaboration among service providers, including educators, city, county, state and federal agencies and others.

• Community awareness and engagement; improving gang prevention awareness among community partners, including community councils, homeowners associations, local businesses, faith-based organizations, community-based groups and others.

• Elected Officials’ awareness and engagement; improving gang prevention awareness and support among the City Council, County Council, State Legislature and Congress; advocating for laws, policies and funding that promote gang prevention.

The first phase our community mobilization will be to identify and promote all of the good quality after school and summer programs that are offered on the westside. We recognize that charges for these programs or the lesson fees for music and sports activities may be too expensive. Also, transportation to the programs may not be available. It will be our purpose to make these programs accessible to all our youth regardless of cost or transportation deficiencies. Members of THE ROMERO ALTERNATIVE steering committee will hold monthly meetings on the third Thursday of each month in various locations throughout the westside.

Poplar Grove Community Council

MCSHALOM@xmission.com 801-521-3223

We know that every effort to better society, especially when injustice and sin are so ingrained,

Is an effort that God blesses, that God wants, that God demands of us.

(Archbishop Oscar Romero, March 24, 1980)

This entry was posted on July 22, 2008 at 10:39 am and is filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

| Print