What is going on? This gang stuff is completely out of control.

Stop printing the gang names in the paper. No one cares what gang they are in. Just lock them up or ship them off. Don't give them press by printing the name.

(This comment has been removed by a Yakima Herald-Republic moderator)

Find it amazing the cops know the gang members and their gang names but then sit back and wait till "After" things happen. Seems to me they should be able to bust them for spitting on the sidewalk, jaywalking, etc.... anything and everything to harrass them to leave the area.

Find it amazing the cops know the gang members and their gang names but then sit back and wait till "After" things happen. Seems to me they should be able to bust them for spitting on the sidewalk, jaywalking, etc.... anything and everything to harrass them to leave the area.

Hey, we're just getting what we asked for right.

Yesterdays poll on "best way to reduce gang violence" suggested that most readers think we need to stricly enforce current laws.

We are in the current situation becuase this approach does not work. To enforce a law a gangster would first have to break a law. So we sit and wait for more victims to pop up. This approach does not work, has not worked, and will not work. WE need prevention programs for at risk youth. We need to give these kids things to do and invest in our communities instead of singling them out. This town is trying to rebuild its image on wine tourism but offers nothing for the youth. Each shot fired is a silent cry for help.

It's not illegal to be in a gang or associated with a gang. Cops can't just arrest a gang member because he's a part of a gang. They must break the law, have evidence of doing so, or witnesses of them breaking the law.

As for them printing the gang name, I think it's important for them to do so. A little bit of education on what gangs are here doesn't hurt. Some of the readers here think to believe that all gang members are illegal immigrants. As you can see from above, NORTENO21VCV is most likely not an illegal immigrant, but a U.S. Citizen. The 16-year-old that was shot, most likely, not an illegal immigrant.

http://www.creators.com/opinion/john-stossel/prohibition-spawns-drug-violence.html

Sarasmart,

You may think these shootings just started happening but they have been going on for years. Just recently they have been published more often because innocent people are being shot. I have friend that works for the City Fire Department and has been complaining about this happening for several years. If they are not shooting each other then they are stabbing. And no they are not all Hispanics.

Enforcing the current laws (ie jaywalking, drug possession and outstanding warrants/unpaid fines)on all known gang bangers in the YPD database would solve this problem overnight. YPD doesn't want to solve crime, if they did that they wouldn't be able to expand their empire, hire more lazy cops and buy more cool SUVs to drive around while talking on phones without hands free devices and playing on their computers.

I'd like YHR to research this: What percentage of gang shooters and stabbers have never had a brush with the law before? OK I'll answer that, it's 0%. By the time these losers shoot and stab people on our city streets, they've been in handcuffs more than a few times. Most of them are wanted on other charges or are responsible for the $25-30 Million in unpaid fines to our local city and county courts.

YPD could round up all the gang bangers and take them to a local park with a closed pool and unused facilities. They can fence the place in and hold them there all summer. The military makes surplus tents, bedding and other facilities available to local law enforcement for free or very little cost. That surplus was good enough for our troops in war and it's good enough for our local gang bangers to take a time out during the summer killing months.

Curious the City Council and candidates aren't even talking about this plague.

You're doing a good job Sammy!

seems like yakima has gotten worse since i left it..sad.i was born there and 18 yrs later, i moved the heck out. (lived in the bad areas). parents just need to be tougher on their kids,so they wont rely on "friends" of that sort.

Lobo...

First, you need to get your act together. You really sound a like dumb immature person blabbering about what we need to do. As a veteran of the Iraq War, I can tell you that we can't do any of those things your are suggesting...it's unpractical and unreasonable. If you want to start doing that, I suggest you go live in a Communist Country. The U.S. Constitution protect people from unreasonable Searches and Seizures, and WA State's Constitution, Article 7, states "no one will be disturbed from their private affairs."

With that being said, there's only so much Police could do. There's case law after case law preventing Officers from doing just simple things, for example, the U.S. Supreme Court stated not too long ago, that Officers can't no longer conduct a search of a vehicle after an arrest, only if it will gather evidence for the arrest. Meaning, if you get pulled over for driving with a license suspended, and you have a like 4 pounds of cocaine underneath your seat, officers can't search the vehicle whatsoever, unless they get a search warrant or the officers finds drug paraphernalia in the suspect's pocket, then they could search the car.

Well, using the same principle as you can see, Police have a very difficult job in their hands, and if you think they are being lazy, I suggest you go on a ride along with a YPD officer and see for yourself how tough their job really is. Last time i went, I was amazed how hard their job really is not knowing when someone is going to stick a gun out the window and shoot your just for conducting a simple traffic stop.

Whether your like it or not, gang member or not, they all have rights, which Police have to abide by. I for once despise gang members. I just wish there was a way to get rid of them once an for all, but Communities have to come together in order for that to happen.

Your right we should know what gangs cause these crimes, that is why I created my website Northwest Gangs, because too many times Yakima Police would hide the identity of these gangs.

For those that don't know East Yakima is Nortenos (red) territory, but the area around S. 4th Street & Maple near where this shooting happened is a small pocket of Surenos, mostly Play Boy Surenos and South Side Familia (blue).

They've been at war since the 1960's in California and at war in Yakima since the 1980's when they first came to the Valley. Most Sureno gangs get along in the City of Yakima, that makes me think a Norteno gang did this shooting.

In the Sunnyside/Grandview/Granger, the Surenos fight each other thats why we have some many (blue v.s. blue) shootings down there, mainly Little Valley Lokotes and Bell Gardens Lokotes.

If you have any questions about gangs in Yakima come visit my website (just Google "Northwest Gangs") I won't give out info that will get someone arrested, but I will tell you the basic stuff..

Be safe because the war has begun!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't really care what gang they are from! Just get them the H*&@ out of here... Many people say that deporting them won't work because they aren't illegal or they'll be back in a few days. Right, why not try! If they are US citizens then they need to go to prison, or better yet, what happened to an eye from eye. The gangs apparently follow that rule. If you are convicted of taking a person's life then you better be prepared to give up yours. Quit trying to protect these "kids" from reality. Educate them while they are young so they don't feel the need to be apart of the gangs. We need to do something. They are destorying our community and I am sick and tired of it. People need to buck and figure out a solution! Maybe I seem harsh, but I am flat tired of this type of violence and I pray that my family never has to be involved in it.

Thanks Joice. I'm painfully aware that gang crime has been an issue in Yakima. Obviously there has been an upturn in recent months, which is what I was referring to. Nine shootings in little over a month is not normal, even for Yakima.

Lobo,
Cops hands are tied in many ways. They also know that after risking their lives trying to put these guys behind bars, they'll most likely be back on the street in a short period of time. They don't call it catch-and-release for nothing.

If people want to be in gangs, I think we should help them by putting them in chain gangs. A little slave labor would clean up their acts in a hurry. I suppose the ACLU would be outraged if this ever happened.

This CAN be solved over night. If the YPD started rounding up the gangstas and throwing them into a fenced in compound for all to see the others will get the message and leave town that fast. Overnight! This is not new. Sheriff Joe does it in Maricopa County and it used to be done here in Yakima. The area around the rail road tracks by Front and Yakima used to be fenced in and full of criminals, drunks and another segment of the population that used to cause trouble in these parts. During the summer months we can have a very low cost and large prison camp. These gang bangers can be picked up on a lot of smaller charges and held. Charge them with cleavage of the buttocks if you want, I don't care.

Once again, I'd like to point out that this is not a new problem and none of our city council members or candidates have the guts to take it on. Meanwhile... El Jefe es a la fiesta con las chicas de la policia.

WOW...Does anyone get the feeling that the gangs have decided to send their own message to the Police and citizens of Yakima? The YPD gets tougher and 2 days later this kid gets shot in the head.... Is it just "coincidence" that NORTENO21VCV comments on the same day of this happening with a "ha,ha" attitude. Something is definetely up and we all need to be extra careful with keeping safe.I'm sticking close to home with my gun loaded and close at hand.

I am beginning to think we should let all the 'trigger happy rednecks that want to shoot people along the border into the US' patrol our streets.

If this situation isn't under control soon, I fear certain members of our community will take things into their own hands, and we'll have a vigilante problem as well as a gang problem.

If the YPD are paying attention, you should go down to the Yakima Herald and see if they can track down who 'NORTENO21VCV' is...

mikaelag_1- that's a very common attitude from people who grow up in Yakima. Get the heck out asap! What kind of people does this leave Yakima with?

Prevention is the solution, along with finding ways to convince the motivated kids to either stay in Yakima or come back after getting an education.

I do not understand what makes a person think they are tough to drive up to a house, fire a bunch of shots, then drive away????

If you ask me they are all a bunch of @#$%

wsujc210,
Prevention is great, in theory. In reality, it is difficult to force dysfunctional parents to raise successful children. How do you force the immoral to behave morally? Our schools haven't figure out how to do this, so saying we just need to better educate kids, is also unrealistic. Unless we change people's moral values, the only thing we can do is try to deter criminals by strictly enforcing the law.
The cities with the worst crime problems are likely the same cities where the most tax dollars have been spent on social programs and so called preventative programs.

Read2Learn...
"If this situation isn't under control soon, I fear certain members of our community will take things into their own hands, and we'll have a vigilante problem as well as a gang problem."

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not a "red neck", nor do I "break the law",(never been arrested) and just because I choose to own a gun doesn't mean I plan to use it in a vigilante way. I will however shoot anyone that comes into my home with the intent to do me bodily harm and if I'm out in public and attacked I will use my gun to save my life if the situation allows me to use it. This is known as "defending ones self".....not being a vigilante.

Read2Learn...
"If the YPD are paying attention, you should go down to the Yakima Herald and see if they can track down who 'NORTENO21VCV' is..."


Thats a slippery slope....Do you want everyone to know who YOU are? If so, then sign in with your real name. Be careful what you ask for!

Before i could even read through all the comments on here i had to say something about this person that goes by northwestbrad. Do you ever think for a second that what you do by posting this graffiti crap on the web that is part of the reason these guys do this. You are publishing what others DONT want to see. I have seen comments you even post on other peoples myspace pages encouraging them to keep tagging. One comment from you even said KEEP MAKING YAKIMA PRETTY.Why encourage this behavior. It sickens me that you are encouraging where others are trying to discourage it. What kind of kicks do you as a person get out of leaving comments like that...do you get paid a price for every tagging pic you post...is that it. I for one as a parent am sick of sites like Northwest Gangs.

Sorry my mistake i meant graffitibrad

I am 19 and lived in yakima all my life. I grew up around gangs and had friends who were gang members. Mostly gangsters who get into gangs start as young as 13. Gangs are not just with hispanics, there is african american, americans around the valley that i know. There is even tagging crews which lots of kids are involved in, and from what I know go against each over graffiti and also can escalate to violence with other crews. There is even girl gangs around the valley. It is getting warm out and that is when more activity will rise. Once someone gets hurt or shot, retaliation will come & innocent people will get hurt. Im saying that there is more crime to come so it should not be a surprise. When I was in high school I was going towards the "gang life" having fights, threats. Once my father knew what I was going towards, he told me to either stop the stupidity or leave home. I did stop and Im happy i am not involved in this type of thing. So it does comes down to parents to put a foot down, or "friends" will get them to do anything. Early prevention and parent education on these type of things is probably the only way. Also, like I read in other comments, enforcing the law and having more stricter punishment once a gang member is caught. Just to let everyone know, there is more to come in shootings or other violence, hopefully no one is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

all i know is that i want to go back to yakima, and visit all of my family and best friends. but im not taking chances,like that poor lady from michigan.

Rabbit89~ I am glad you got out of that lifestyle and situation. It shows how mature and intelligent you are. It also gives other parents and young kids facing that type of lifestyle hope. Keep helping others. You will truly make a difference.

First of all graffitibrad I commend you and understand what you are trying to do about your website.

Graffitibrad is exposing the gangs and making what many do not know aware of their surroundings. Gang-members do not want any outsider to know this information and with more people knowing it can break down their so-called organization.

As an educator I promote graffiti art and feel if a kid a steered in the right direction they can use talent for a career. Many graffiti pieces of art you see around town is done legally with the permission of the property owner.

wshsndrms,

I ain't gonna lie, I don't mind graffiti, because I used to paint when I was growing up in Yakima, and part of my research is documenting gang graffiti... That comment i left I believe it was for Listo, I like his style of tagging and it was a sarcastic joke.. You shouldn't be mad at me for the graffiti, be mad at the City of yakima for not cleaning it up and not locking these kids in jail for doing the crime... And if you don't like it, why are you checking out the MySpace page?? Pretty interesting stuff huh?

Actually without giving names...i found your page through my own son's. It seems more like you are encouraging where maybe you should be discouraging. The whole tagging thing is frustrating not to mention ugly.

Southern California has had a lot of success fighting gangs and gang violence by using Gang Injunctions. It seems like Yakima is ripe for a couple of Gang Injunctions. Essentially, it makes it illegal and gang members can be held in contempt of court for violating an injunction and while it's not going to put them away for life, they get tired of the fines and the 30 to 60 days in jail every time that they are caught hanging out with their "homies" on a street corner. It's been upheld in the 9th Circuit court and in the Supreme Court.

C'mon Yakima! It's time for some gang injunctions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_injunction

http://www.lapdonline.org/gang_injunctions

http://www.streetgangs.com/injunctions/