Attending:
Sharron Kelly, Patti Swanson, Heather Schraeder, Beth Faulhaber, Carol Cole, Deb Meihoff, Bob Robison, Hope Flores, Dorie Asana

Chair Officers:
Kathy Minden, Polly Burton, Jeff Beiswenger

Guest Speakers:

• Carla Piluso & Detective Tom Walker Re: Updates on Juvenile Crimes, Gang Activities
• Dora Osana from the Human Rights Center Re: Discrimination

Announcements:

• Brian Holt of the Dept. of Community Justice currently on paternity leave after the birth of his fourth child is leaving the Dept. of Community Justice for a federal job offer.
• Diane Peterson is organizing a trip in March to Salinas, California and at least two members of the Weed and Seed Committee should go.
• Weed and Seed meetings will now be every fourth Wednesday of the month.

Minutes:
Rockwood Weed and Seed Steering Committee Minutes of 12/05/02 approved.

Updates on Juvenile Crimes and Gang Activities:
Carla Piluso updated the committee on gang related violent crimes that occurred over the holiday and then introduced Detective Tom Walker from the Gresham Police Department who has a longstanding history working with gang related violence. He briefed us on the background and historical trends of gangs.

Brief History:
Gangs passed up Portland as a drug trade location for many years and it was not until 1989 when gang investigation began in Portland. At that time gang activity was more concentrated along the Max line, Rockwood and North Portland. Now, most gang related violence is local with high concentrations of activity in Gresham and Fairview, but not confined to Rockwood. Gang activity encompasses territory west of Fairview all the way to the border of East Multnomah County. Many North and Northeast Portland gangs have over the years relocated to this area. In the early 90's, there was a trend of high school middle class Caucasian gangs referred to as posses, but these no longer exist. Then over the years gangs gradually became exclusively Hispanic gangs which we see today.

The Max line attracted a greater number of gang members in the past because it was a source of transporting people into East Multnomah County from the outside, but now gang members are local residents. The most prevalent gangs in Rockwood are 13th street (represents the South) and 18th street. In fact, Tom stated that the gang related activity in this area is exclusive between these two rival groups. There is evidence of tagging wars between these two gangs all over East Multnomah County. There are also several Rockwood apartment complexes that are considered gang turf.

Tom also informed us on how to identify gang members by dress and common symbols. Currently, there is a traditional look that is common among many gangs. What to look for: khaki baggy pants, white tennis shoes or lace ups, particularly of the Stacy Adams brand, flannel shirts buttoned only on the top or buttoned all the way, high waste cut sporty type jackets, low caps, tattoos consisting of three dots and a triangle, #13 or #18.

A valid point was brought up by our guest speaker Dora Osana that one should not assume or judge every person that fits this description because there are a lot of children who mirror themselves in this image. Tom responded by advising one to look at the whole package and the style of dress are usually good indicators that this person could be a gang member.

Sharron is optimistic that Weed and Seed will get funding in October and that the steering committee should consider funding gang prevention and intervention approaches to stop the cycle of gangs in future generations as well as use the funding for policing purposes. The Gresham Police does not want to just drive the gangs to another territory; however Carla pointed out that it is inevitable that a portion of the gang community will relocate to another territory. The whole dynamic of gang activity has changed the life in Rockwood. Currently there is a lack of funds and resources for strict gang enforcement, however organizations like the East County Caring Community is developing a violent prevention program in schools.

The Gresham Police's goal is to employ a full time gang enforcement team is narrowing with a current total of five full time gang enforcement policemen. The gang enforcement team is mainly resource funded by manipulating schedules.

Discrimination-Full Committee Discussion:
Dora Osana of the Human Rights Center specializes in diversity training and workshops. Diversity training is addressing historical racism in Oregon, to bring awareness, and ease tension and conflict. Discrimination workshops allow one to see where they are and how much they understand of their views and where they come from. Some of the effective questions in diversity training and dialog that we explored were:

• What do you want the community to look like?
• What do you want Weed and Seed to do with Rockwood in terms of diversity?
• Who are Weed and Seed allies?
• What kind of allies do you need to bring in different organizations, etc.?
• Does Weed and Seed have a particular target group?
• What information does Weed and Seed need?
• What kind of support does Weed and Seed need?
• What kinds of resources are targeted to help in the journey?
• How is Weed and Seed going to reach the diverse public and get them involved?

• To initiate crime reduction, tolerance and trust through knowledge and education.
• Be more active in reaching out to the community and be more diverse.
• Establish sites where diverse cultures can congregate and interact like, community gardens, play areas, etc.
• Utilize empty buildings and grant resources in Rockwood.

Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be held Wednesday, February 27, 2002 at 7:00 PM at the Rockwood Library. The Steering Committee decided that meetings will be held every fourth Wednesday of the month at the Rockwood Library or an alternate location in the target area.