Facing the reality of gangs in parks: an inter-agency response.

The phrase "a gang is only as strong as the community allows" often is repeated when policymakers and agency professionals gather to discuss the issues associated with the spread of a criminal gang subculture that continues to threaten social order in America. As the 21st century nears, discussions at the local, state, and national levels often are focused on multi-disciplinary, cross-jurisdictional interventions that maximize available services and facilities at the local, neighborhood level. A park is a logical crossroads for launching a variety of intervention strategies that set boundaries for appropriate behavior, in-still interpersonal trust, and promote public safety.

Recently, the reality of gangs in Minneapolis, Minnesota, prompted a nine-year-old Southeast Asian-American girl to write, "I don't think there should be any more gangs, because they cause violence. I think there should be a program for kids in my community with a gang-free club. I want my community to be safer for kids."

Her plea for action is grounded in real life; she watched helplessly as her brother was shot intentionally by rival gang members in the doorway of her family home.

Can there be any better reason for agency professionals to join forces and work together in the delivery of recreational services that support our youth who are negatively impacted by the behaviors associated with criminal threat groups?

Managing the issues associated with crime and violence, including gang activity, is a high priority in Minneapolis parks. A strong commitment to teamwork and inter-agency cooperation has proven very effective in addressing the root causes of gang formation, as well as preventing antisocial, criminal behavior from becoming the community norm. In Minneapolis, public policymakers and agency professionals have successfully cooperated to address the reality of gangs in parks.

A recent example will serve to illustrate. Approximately two years ago, community concern formally was expressed regarding narcotics and gang activity at a medium-sized park community center. Over several months, citizens and representatives from various public and private agencies met regularly with law enforcement professionals specializing in narcotics and gang enforcement. An ongoing, coordinated effort resulted in the arrest of key adults responsible for operating a number of crack houses and for promoting open gang activity at the park.

Minnesota's relatively new "safe zone" law for parks, schools, and public housing was employed at sentencing for persons arrested and convicted for violations involving narcotics and weapons. Strong leadership by park recreational staff--coupled with ongoing support from community residents through an active volunteer councils as well as other formalized programs--resulted in the welcomed return of a safe, positive recreational setting. Today, the park is once again a source of fierce community pride, a testament to real inter-agency cooperation at the local, neighborhood level.

Who is Responsible for Public Safety?

Public safety in Minneapolis parks is the shared responsibility of the Minneapolis Park Police and the Minneapolis Police Departments. Since 1887, the Minneapolis Park Police have been designated by city charter to provide the primary delivery of police services in parks, augmented by Minneapolis Police officers and investigators from four precincts and various specialized divisions. Since 1972, non-sworn Minneapolis Park Patrol Agents have augmented law enforcement by sworn police officers in Minneapolis parks. Statistically, it should be noted that crime in Minneapolis parks constitutes 2% of total crime in the city of Minneapolis, while park properties represent approximately 15% of total park land and water. While Minneapolis parks are relatively safe, acts of violence--as well as general predatory crime--continue to challenge all local communities throughout the upper midwest.

Over the past 10 years, communities in the Twin Cities metropolitan area have experieinced a sobering increase in various antisocial behaviors. We also have seen growth in criminal acts typically associated with violent, urban threat groups that plague larger American cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, where it is known that male gang members commit six times more crimes than non-gang males with similar backgrounds who do not participate in gang activity. Further, local trends clearly illustrate an increse in the abuse of females, as well as the recruitment and explotation of children by adults to further the criminal enterprise.

Concern also exists regarding the dramatic increase in the use of dangerous weapons by violence-prone individuals involved in various large-scale, national narcotics networks. Clearly, the level of intentional violence associated with gangs at all levels of affiliation is unacceptably high and must be addressed.

Graffiti vandalism is a special citywide problem that has been addressed by a multiple-agency approach. The Minneapolis Mayor's Office Don't Deface My Space program has supported the ongoing efforts of graffiti removal by the Minneapolis Police Community Crime Prevention/SAFE Division; the Minneapolis Public Works Department; the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Operations Division; and the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Public and private agencies throughout Minneapolis recognize the wisdom of treating graffiti as property damage and expediting its removal. This is just one area in which inter-agency cooperation is having tremendous impact. But the strategies for prevention and change do not stop with graffiti.

A host of recreation-based intervention strategies and programs have been anchored in Minneapolis parks. Sponsored by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, early childhood programs such as Recreation Plus provide child care and after school recreation based activities for K-6 grade schoolers at local park community centers. Parent advisory councils participate in the design of after-school activities and schoolout day activities that promote the development of social and leisure time skills.

Minneapolis park programs such as Youthline and Y-Map offer leadership training and opportunities for positive community involvement, as well as constructive leisure time activities for youth who are 12-16 years of age.

Self-esteem building and community volunteerism form the core of the We Who Care program, as well as the Girl's Initiative, which features focus groups to address issues related to personal health, physical fitness, human sexuality, and career education.

Learning Basic Work Skills

The annual summer Teen Teamworks program provides employment opportunities, as well as training for teens in the areas of team building; conflict resolution; outreach activities; cultural diversity; sexual harassment; and personal safety principles. Teens from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds learn basic work ethic skills such as managing a bank account, as well as personal finances. Further, opportunities for training and experience in the visual arts are provided by the ongoing programs of the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, as well as in the performing arts by such annual programs as the City Children's Nutcracker held at Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota.

In the summer of 1994, the Phat Summer Program, sponsored by the Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board, was instituted to engage more youth in positive recreational programming at park recreation centers throughout the city of Minneapolis. Activities included computer exploration, field trips, and traditional sports. Working extra duty assignments, park police officers provided additional security and positive role models at each park location. As a side benefit, park police officers and agents were able to spend quality time with young park users at each participating park community center.

Providing Positive Experiences

Introducing youth to positive experiences with law enforcement professionals is a key element of the Minneapolis Summer Youth and Police Internship Program in Minneapolis. Annually, a select number of minority high school students are selected to participate in a rotating internship in which each youth is given an opportunity to experience firsthand the issues and challenges faced by the Minneapolis Park Police and the Minneapolis Police in the course of their duties. Testifying to her positive police summer internship experience, an 18-year-old minority female student wrote:

Last summer I had the opportunity to work in a special program through the Minneapolis Park Police and Minneapolis Police Departments. This program gave minority students jobs working alongside police officers. Since my contact with these officers, I have realized that they are just like everyone else. They have families who love them and care about them. I know police work is a tough job, very stressful on both the officers and their families. They wonder every day if they are going to come home in one piece. I have learned that they care about us. They care about keeping us safe in this harmful world. I feel that if they didn't care about us, they wouldn't put their lives on the line every single day. Maybe my commentary will make people stop and think.

Over the past three years, Minneapolis Park Police officers have attempted to maximize positive contacts with youth by distributing thousands of sport trading cards. Due to the popularity of this program which has received ongoing support from a major corporation, a number of units within the Minneapolis Police Department now request the popular trading cards featuring popular baseball, basketball, football, wrestling, hockey, and other sport figures.

Also for the past three years, the Minneapolis Summer Safety Camp has been held to promote personal safety training and team building activities for youngsters who are 8-12 years of age. Sponsored by the Minneapolis Fire Department; the Minneapolis Park Police Department; the Minneapolis Police Department; and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, this program has been highly successful in integrating prevention and safety principles, as well as basic decision-making skills in an atmosphere of belonging and acceptance.

Formalized Links

In a more ongoing, formalized linkage of recreation-based and legal-based interventions, the Minneapolis Police Juvenile Diversion program has used existing park and community programs to provide youth offenders with an avenue for positive change toward more socially responsible behavior. Referral to such park programs as Youthline, Y-Map, and Teen Team Works has been a valuable option for Minneapolis Police Juvenile Diversion Specialists who seek to match offenders with existing, community-based programs.

In a similar fashion, Hennepin County Juvenile Probation has established a program to include neighborhood park community centers in a number of "service centers" which allow both low and medium risk clients an opportunity to meet the conditions of court ordered probation in a healthy, socially responsible environment.

Several common themes emerge from this examination of selected interagency programs designed to reach youth through recreation-based intervention programs in Minneapolis. These themes cross all agencies and professional disciplines:

* Label behavior, not people.

* Allow youth access to real

decision-making.

* Challenge youth to balance personal

choice with responsible action.

* Treat each youth as a community

asset, not a liability.

* Resolve conflict in an atmosphere of

respect and understanding.

* Minimize the need for youth to

affiliate with negative role models.

* Maximize the role of true and

trusted friends.

* Promote timely crime reporting.

* Support victim's rights.

Emerging Partnerships

Important and creative partnerships have emerged across agencies in Minneapolis to address the root causes of the crime and violence associated with the street gang subculture. It is critical that all professionals understand that gang intervention is about labeling behavior, not people. Concern is frequently expressed regarding the "labeling" of youth based on ethnic background and/or apparel choices (trademark clothing). In park settings, there is a strong need for positive role models to set clear and age appropriate boundaries for youth behavior. Through the building of interpersonal trust, both youth and adults can improve the level of safety in parks and communities by improving the reporting of crimes and holding law violators accountable.

Fundamentally, the challenge to all helping professionals is to see youth as assets, not liabilities. All youth must be allowed access to decision-making in order to balance personal choice with responsible community action. As we keep hearing, "a gang is only as strong as the community allows."