Now, now, the Oregonian's editorial board assures us that the increased civic pride from pro soccer and minor league baseball will do wonders to reduce gang activity as the young men and women, filled with admiration for the sports heroes, drop their gang affiliations and hang outside the stadiums hoping for autographs.

After all, it'd be like Compton in Portland now if it weren't for the Beavers and Blazers.

The stimulus isnt going to do much for anyone. Much like the Bush stimulus we got a while back. Its just another loan that people will sock away or just pay some bills.

As long as they aren't on my MAX train, right? Wait, they already are!

The problem with gangs in Portland is cyclical. When violence escalates the city spends money on more police and gang teams. When the problem becomes stabilized they pull back the money and the gang teams disappear. The violence increases once again, and the police become reactionary only.

If kids are bored and out of work they will get into trouble, especially in down trodden neighborhoods. There is more that could be done on that front as well. But if PPB has learned anything about gangs it is to get in their face, early and often. Wannabes will grow into the real thing, and unabated low level miscreant behavior will escalate into violence every time. It happens over and over again.

Money for bike lanes, trolleys and trams might be better spent on gang enforcement that is properly funded and staffed. But then, CoP government and Tri-met already know this, right?

Now that the great citizens of Portland have spent the past ten years criticizing every action of the PPB, they find themselves with a crime problem. I suspect we will be hearing calls for PPB to "do whatever it takes" to bring these wayward youths back in line. Deja vu all over again....

What percentage of people killed by Portland police are gang members? It seems like zero, or close to it. Instead, the dead seem to be mentally ill people and small-scale drug dealers, not dangerous gangsters.

If the police got in the middle of the gangs and took a few people out, I doubt you'd hear the level of criticism that you get when you beat a man to death for looking as though maybe he peed on a tree.

Jack, I suspect we may find out real soon if you are correct...

I doubt the problem is caused by anything the city does or doesn't do. The real problem is a little closer to home, most likely the parents of these gang members.

If those parents had a chance at getting decent jobs there might be a difference. But low income people without adequate transportation have a problem. The Rivergate Industrial park with a number of companies that pay well is located in north Portland near one of the lowest income neighborhoods in the city. Unfortunately Trimet's service between the two area is poor at best. It might also help to get some experienced teachers in the area schools. Instead they are out in the burbs where the teachin' is easier.

If we are going to spend tax dollars lets make sure they are spent effectively.

TLG

I like Louis Brandeis' take on the issue; that lawless government invites contempt for the law. If we focus on the white collar gangs (those who get all paranoid when anyone questions Urban Renewal when they can google "Urban Renewal critiques" and get thousands of scholarly hits), then we will have more resources to work with the kids.

Libertarian guy, you erroneously use the plural of "parent," which is "parents." Unfortunately, most of these kids don't have "parents." In the vast majority of cases, they come from single parent homes, and that parent is often working two jobs to keep up with the exorbitant cost of living on the West Coast.

This leaves the teens with little supervision. They aren't that stupid...they figure out whose mom is working nights and use that parent's place as a base of operations.

Moreover, in many cases, the "parent" was little more than a child when she decided to give birth. The fathers are almost invariably absent, a total deadbeat, dead, or in jail.

It's a really vicious cycle that grows worse with every generation...about 15-17 years.

There is an excellent book out there, "Monster," the autobiography of an LA gang member that gives some good insights into that culture, from the inside, from an original member of the Crips, who learned at the knee of Tookie himself.

The author does go so far as to say that permanent racial re-segregation is the only solution he can see, with a new Black nation being wholly subsidized by Whites, and I don't know if I necessarily agree with that part. The rest is pretty good.

I knew a few people involved in that life 20 years ago, when I was a kid, and most of what the author says is pretty accurate, as far as my limited experience lets me see.

I saw Ann Coulter on The View yesterday( no comments please) and she states that single moms are to blame for ALL of the ills of society.

Part of the cyclical nature of gangs is that there is a period of time when a lot of folks are in prison - think Measure 11, and seven years - and then all of those convicted gang members get out of jail with no skills, education, jobs etc. Guess what - back to the old gang behavior, and now they're the elder statesmen, so to speak, with all of the teen gang members looking up to them.