Report gauges scope of Yakima's gang problem

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A newly released report that documents the extent of gang crime in Yakima will be key to seeking funding and crafting programs to fight the problem, officials announced Thursday.

Known as a community profile, the 55-page report was released Thursday by city leaders and members of the city's Gang-Free Initiative steering committee.

The findings are not surprising, but officials say the document will be critical to support applications for state and federal anti-gang funding.

The report is a major development of the Gang-Free Initiative that began last year. The initiative's goal is to go beyond an expectation that police officers will simply keep arresting suspects without any hope of stopping gang members or preventing new recruits.

Interim city manager Michael Morales said current anti-gang programs in the city -- as well as across the county -- can use the report to target their efforts toward the biggest problem areas.

"What we need to figure out as a community going forward ... is how to stop the flow, the pipeline of gang membership," Morales said at a news conference.

Morales emphasized that the police department has done a strong job of responding to and investigating gang crime, but he and others said the community's efforts must reach into prevention and intervention.

Also attending the news conference were acting police Chief Greg Copeland, Mayor Micah Cawley, council members Maureen Adkison and Kathy Coffey and several other members of the 27-member steering committee for the Gang-Free Initiative.

Coffey said there is still a need for more police officers.

The report was crafted with the help of consultant Steve Magallan, who was paid $75,000 for his work through September.

The council's next step is hiring a coordinator to oversee the initiative.

Key findings of Gang-Free Initiative community profile

* About a fifth of the city's population lives below the poverty line.

* Residents in Yakima's most gang-troubled neighborhoods -- primarily northeast, southeast and north-central -- are at the bottom of the census-based Community Disadvantage Index, a measure of socioeconomic conditions. The city overall ranks at a 7 on a 1-10 scale, with 10 the worst.

* Violent crime by juveniles had been on a steady decline since the mid-1990s, but began climbing around 2004 and spiked in 2007.

* Yakima has a murder rate three times that of much-larger Seattle and Tacoma.

* Budget reductions crippled the county's ability to detain juvenile criminals. Only 42 of 94 beds are open at the county's juvenile detention center.

* Some 40 gangs are active in the county compared with 120 in King County and 50 in Pierce County, the state's leading gang areas.

* Of a sample of 289 students in Yakima middle schools, 15 percent reported gang involvement. A separate, broader survey of students in grades 8, 10 and 12 found7 percent reporting gang activity in the past year. Sampling of more high school students is needed, the report said.

* Student behavior requiring suspension or expulsion -- which can include fighting or bringing guns to school -- has been going up since at least 2007 in Yakima and across the county.

* Mark Morey can be reached at 509-577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.

* Reporter Chris Bristol contributed to this report.