HALL OF SHAME

Gang News In The Yakima Herald

Forecast: Another year of unbridled gang violence

This editorial appears in the March 10, 2010, Yakima Herald-Republic.

How many shootings at law enforcement officers will it take before state lawmakers finally pass some meaningful anti-gang legislation?

Once again the Legislature failed to pass any measure to curb gang violence and, as a consequence, also failed to take notice of what’s going on throughout the state: Gangs are alive and well and thriving in our communities.

Want proof? Just look at what happened over the weekend. Early Saturday in Toppenish, a sheriff’s deputy had to elude a barrage of gunfire from suspected gang members. The deputy had come upon a slow-moving vehicle cruising a neighborhood. Not only did the car fail to pull over, two occupants leaned out and delivered multiple shots at the deputy.

The car sped off and later was found in flames, the fire most likely started by the occupants to cover their tracks.

It appears gang thugs in the Yakima Valley have declared open season on sheriff’s deputies. This is the third time in nine months that a deputy has been fired upon. Last July in Outlook, gang members targeted two deputies and shot one of them in the leg. In December, a deputy took gunfire from two men suspected of stealing a snowblower. He was not wounded.

Gang shootings of all kinds have become far too common, with gang members peppering homes with bullets or brazenly shooting at each other as they compete for attention and territory.

And yet state lawmakers continue to shirk their responsibilities when it comes to dealing with escalating gang violence. The latest failure came last week when the Senate eviscerated a bill sponsored by Rep. Norm Johnson, R-Yakima, that would have allowed a process of seizing known gang houses in troubled neighborhoods.

House Bill 2414 breezed out of the House on a 90 to 6 vote only to be derailed in a Senate committee. Critics of the measure feared racial profiling and innocent property owners being harassed.

Johnson said those fears were unwarranted and groundless.

HB 2414 would have created a criminal street gang-activity nuisance law. It would have worked like this: If a neighbor lives within a block of a building or apartment unit where gang activity is going on, that neighbor could file a nuisance complaint with law enforcement. After a police investigation determined it was a valid complaint, the matter would go to a Superior Court judge, who would hold a hearing. Again, if evidence showed the gang activity had an “adverse effect” on the neighborhood, the judge could order removal of personal property and shut down the building or apartment unit for up to one year.

It’s disappointing that gang members were given another reprieve. They certainly don’t deserve it.

When it comes to gang violence, talking tough is not the same as acting tough. With communities confronting gangs on a daily basis and sheriff’s deputies fearing the worst, we need lawmakers to step forward. Instead, what we get is another year of disappointment.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Bob Crider, Spencer Hatton and Karen Troianello.