Police seek community's help to reduce gang violence
EUGENE, Ore. -- Eugene Police said they are organizing a community discussion to combat rising gang violence and gang-related crimes.
“We’ve seen an increase in gun related crimes,” said Eugene Police Sgt. Scott McKee on Friday. “We’ve seen an increase in violent criminal acts involving gang members. Over the last several years, we’ve documented over 180 different gang sets.”
McKee said Lane County’s street gangs do not follow typical gang-related stereotypes.
“We see gang members from all walks of life—from poverty to wealthy well-to-do families,” said McKee. “They don’t typically associate with a specific color, like you would think.”
McKee said tgang members in Lane County are mostly white males. He added that they do not adhere to typical neighborhood or turf boundaries.
Nonetheless, McKee said the groups are growing.
“We see recruiting happening at the elementary and middle school age,” he said.
As inmates are released from the jail and fewer officers are staffed, McKee said the “criminal justice system in Lane County has lost its teeth.”
"The hope is that we can figure out a way to give kids healthy, attractive alternatives to gang involvement,” said McKee. “It’s a pretty complicated problem.”
Eugene Police said they are hosting the Lane County Gang Prevention Symposium on January 12, 2013, at Lane Community College Center for Meeting and Learning from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Registration deadline for the event is due by January 9, 2013. The event is free. Child care, sign language, interpreters and bus passes will be provided upon request. For more information or help registering, call (541) 682-6348.
I am Here in Eugene,Oregon an is Willing to Help Stop the Violence&Senseless Crimes in Our Towns,Cities&Communities!!!! Contact:Ronnie D.Hawkins Jr. 1-870-377-1280 http://www.unitedinpeaceinc.org  Â
As an ex military special forces, if we were to send in some of these gentlemen such as myself to clean up streets as in "The Kill Zone" in Oakland Ca., I can assure you gang violence would become extinct, as would all its members, these people are animals there is no rehabilitation, the answer is to remove these animals from the face of the earth so the the good hard working people of all colors and races can walk the street again. These gang pussy's are cowards, they kill recklessly, from a moving car or a shot in the back, their not tough guys, they travel in numbers cause they themselves are scared, I served with men of honor and who love there country most would have no problem wiping these animals off the face of the earth, and believe me they would do it quickly, and efficiently, and any up and coming potential gang bangers if they know their fate before they get involved, and that fate would be death, I believe the problem would be resolved, and as far as gangs returning after the military leaves, this is a simple fix, we have several million military personal in the U.S. at any given time, WE DON'T LEAVE, just like we worked with the police forces in Iraq, we stay for good. Its time the good law abiding citizens insist the government do something, and end this problem, believe me it would not take long.
Badkharma ST3
This is an excerpt for story: "The hope is that we can figure out a way to give kids healthy, attractive alternatives to gang involvement,â said McKee. âItâs a pretty complicated problem.â
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The above is all well and good, if not usually too late!
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This kind of thing (Gangs) didn't just start when a person turned 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, or one day decided to kill someone, or rob, or rape, steal, or what ever it is they did. No, this started when these people were children when they were emotionally, physically or sexually abused or all three by the very people that should have been loving them and taking care of them! Parents or anyone who was in charge of bringing up these children! Children do NOT come out of the womb broken, that is done by the very people who should be loving them and teaching them respect for themselves and others! Of course not every person who kills was abused as children nor does everyone who was abused become a killer, rapist etc.. Does this give a person a right to hurt others because they were hurt? Of course not! But it's certainly understandable if not expected!
We should be diligent about checking on children before they're abused. How would we do that? I have no idea, but that is the only way we will ever stop these senseless killings, rapes, robberies, etc... Because after the fact it's too late!
I can see in the posts at least some blame drugs and alcohol as the reason for this kind of behavior. While drugs and alcohol certainly fan the flames they aren't the cause for the behavior they are only the symptom of the problem! Drug and alcohol abuse numb the problem, they keep those who use from feeling and from hurting. Albeit they cause even more problems but themselves are never the underline cause! Because "almost" without fail people who are loved and nurtured as children do NOT grow up to abuse alcohol and drugs! Of course there are always exceptions to the rule.
In the U.S. our prisons are bursting at the seems with people who were arrested and sent to prison on drug related charges! They go in and out constantly, the recidivism rate if very high proving that punishment does NOT cure drug or alcohol use or anything else for that matter. There is only one thing that can change a person, and that is "that person" themselves. I'm not advocating we let murders and rapists, etc out of prison. I believe prison is a good place for anyone who violent! But not for drug and alcohol users. It is much cheaper to treat than to incarcerate! The reason we don't do the latter is because most don't give two Shi** about other people! Its not their problem, when down the line it actually is!
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Good luck to all of us, and may God protect us from ourselves
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@Postone ---The power to help others and oneself can usually be found through a house of worship.
I see many retired volunteers (financially secure OR not) helping out at their respective houses of worship. Bless their hearts! We need more of them.
I also tell the younger disenchanted crowd every chance I get to find a house of worship OR reunite with one long discarded. The best place to get high and meet an attractive partner or alliances is not on the street corner by some sleazy tavern, tatoo parlor, bus stop, laundromat, arcade. The best place is at church or religious gatherings usually on Sunday mornings. Babes galore. Healthy food galore. Great atmosheres galore.
So much better than the crowd of lost souls drinking Hurricane, eating junk food with their meth mouth in some flop house or urine encrusted alley. Lie down with dogs--get up with fleas!
Along with a house of worship, I might also recommend lost youth seeking out membership at a masonic lodge or temple. There appears to be quite a few here in Eugene. Their initiation will be far more rewarding than any received from the punk thugs in this town.
I think we need to celebrate the diversity of our local gangs as an extension of our multicultural city.Â
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If you don't agree with me then you are a hate-filled bigot.Â
Hey Eugene, you have new busses, a new library, a new courthouse. Figure out how to pay for a jail and law enforcement. I am not going to help, not going to shop there. The county I live in will put these idiots in jail and keep them there!!
Kewl. let's start a gang to combat the damned juggalos. lol
@godless anarchist ---nothing sounds worse or is ever so unsightly as Japanese juggalos. ALL foreigners in that country agreed that it is/was good that Japan has strict gun laws. Because, we would have shot them with all the rock salt we could have mustered.
In order to reduce gang violence doesn't there need to be like..a gang..first?
Rock salt put in shot gun cartridges has always been a good remedy for pests and gangs (AKA cockroaches). If there are not enough jail beds... It is nice to know that whatever the good citizenry shot protectecting life, limb, and property will suffer for their crime no matter what. Only problems is 20% of those endearing the slow pain of rock salt in their caboose, will sweat salty tears of revenge...for all time.
The other 80% grow a halo and promise god they will never ever break the law again.
 @peace The is an awesome way to get sued. Tampering with ammunition in any way that is then used for self defense is never a good idea. Ever. I don't want to see gun owners sued, nor putting their life in danger.
@PleaseBeSmart ---is it bad to tape a pet bottle or a potato around the opening of ammuntion discharged to muffle the sound when shooting them with non-tampered buckshot?
@PleaseBeSmart ---that is exactly what happened to Ol' Ronco in Simi Valley, CA. Back in the late 70s. his ranch was just beneath Rocketdyne, and teenage punks kept fishing out his bluegill ponds...for his cattle. So, he would shoot 'em through their denim jeans whenever he caught 'em pole in hand. 'Til he shot a lawyer's kid with a too many shards of rock salt in his scrotum.
Authorities, let him get away with tampering with munitions in such said fasion for 3 decades, because the hill top above his ranch had imminent domain rights to spew radiation onto his ranch. Tampering with nuke munitions is for National Security...so that was OK. Too bad we can't sue the nuke people for tampering with munitions in Fukushima & Santa Suzanna. BTW, best panfish I ever had. We would cut them open and throw them in our swimming pool. They would swim for days AFTER being gutted. Zombie Fish!Â
More police state propoganda...Let me guess they want more money.
 @RandomNumbers Noticed that they have none....
That gang is mostly white, but most gangs certainly are not. In one of the other articles they linked to they talked about people "having stereotypes of what a gang members looks like." Sorry, but no. The stereotypes are absolutely true, since the statistics back it up. It hovers right around 80% of all gang members are black or Hispanic/Latino, and a little over 90% are male. We probably have more of a mix of whites, Asians and Natives in there because, quite simply, it's slim pickings. You see less and less females and juveniles as the availability of more appealing options goes up (going from rural to urban) and the same can be said for race. We have more of a mix because Eugene is only a little over 9% Hispanic and black. Mark my words, as their demographic grows in our area, so will gangs and unspeakable gang violence. All the while white-guilt, open-arms, aspiring to be multicultural Eugene will sit around scratching their heads not fathoming why our gang violence is skyrocketing. Which will be about the time I move to the coast. =)
 @PleaseBeSmart your last two sentences are what most call racist.  You are an articulate racist. Â
 @drinkmorewater If that's what "most" people call racist, "most" people need to get a dictionary. :)
@drinkmorewater @PleaseBeSmart ---"race" is a racist word. PC could equate it with the N-word. Identifying a people as a race implies that we are all in competiton against one another based on our kind of skin color,etc.. We should all be in cooperation with each other.
Should be KIND instead of RACE: the Black kind, the White kind, the Chicano kind,etc.
What is my "kindal" preference when choosing gang members, sugar mommas, prostitutes, drug dealers, gun dealers, pole dancers, and bartenders? Why, the Martian kind of course.
 @PleaseBeSmart I grew up on the coast, there's a ton of hispanics. And your post is the most racist garbage I have seen on here. I expect it to be liked by at least 95% of the morons on here. Your kind is slowly dying off and you're mad as hell, it's HILARIOUS!
 @RelaxThereIsNoGod Lmao. Oh, please enlighten me as to how referencing statistics is remotely racist. The race demographics vary along the coast, from more than Eugene to less. It's a big coast. I'd say you probably have a different definition of what constitutes "a ton" of Hispanics, since I didn't grow up in Oregon. But feel free to tell me where you've lived that has given you any insight into black and Hispanic/Latino cultures. Btw, those who believe one race is overall better than or inferior to others (you know, racists :) do seem to be dying off. People who have little interest in this PC nonsense, and have no problem noticing differences in cultures and the statistics of things like this aren't "dying out." I'll certainly be around for a long time since I'm 27. :)
 @SwiftlyJust Why thank you, ma'am. :) OFF is a fantastic organization. I refer anyone with state, county, or city firearm legality questions to them. They thoroughly know the laws and work tirelessly standing up for the rights of gun owners. I LOVE them!
 @peace LOL. You're always great, peace. I'm female, btw. :)Â
 @PleaseBeSmart At 27, you are wise beyond your years. I'm sure that it's most difficult for some of the people on this forum to keep up with. Fact and statistics are just too baffling! We have a long road ahead of us, my friend.(PS. I saw that you mentioned OFF in another post. I have worked closely with KS for the past 15 years or better. Great organization!)Â
@PleaseBeSmart @RelaxThereIsNoGod ---how do we know if PBS is not some 1/2 black/hispanic PHD recipient from a cherokee nation ivy league scholarship?  And, s(he) is 27 in Martian years?
I am convinced no human can win a logical debate with PBS. But, it is fun to try & all non-humans are guarenteed to learn something beyond the original News-worthy items s(he) comments on.
hmmmmm..declare open season?
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What did you think would happen when you kept feeding the fat cats and turned prisoners loose??? I won't help you, sorry, time to do your job!
@Fennforests ---problem is these giant fat pensions for the retired police , fire fighters, etc. and, don't even try to touch military pensions. The younger of the above already knows that they will not get anything near as opulent as the lizard parasitic Baby Boomers have today. None of us will. Anyone in my age group ever pondered the silver bullet retirement plan? Most of us were just born at the wrong time. Most of those soaking up the lap of luxury in their golden years, don't care. Some actually do, and are forced to take care of their grandkids, 'cause their kids are jailbirds. will this awful economy ever end. BLAM! Make living wage jobs. Not jailbirds.Â
 @peace You want to go after pensions of people who put their lives on the line? How about going after the pensions of politicians, teachers, postal workers, etc.?
 @peace No, I haven't. My husband has and I was simply relaying what I witnessed. None of that that was anything to do with boot camp, had anything to do with Drill/Sergeant/Warrant/Officers academies, nor military corrections. I was referring to combat vets and only to what I saw with my husband during the later years of his military career (he was in for 10.) It was an obscene amount of BS, really long hours, lack of freedom, and medical catastrophes for which the pay didn't even come close. Hopefully the pay with catch up eventually, since he's now disabled. I'm all for cutting retirements for those who have never even seen a war zone... a cushy 20 years hasn't earned near the pension they receive. But for the love of god, combat vets or those who encounter the aftermath who have done their time or been medically destroyed shouldn't have to fight for what they earned. Maybe fear centers wasn't the right wording... the parts of your brain that deal with being on guard, monitoring for threats and responding to threats (fight or flight) becomes enlarged. And holy cow, a medication that alters the structure of the brain? I'm not sure that's currently possible, but who would take that if it was?!
@PleaseBeSmart ---I am pretty sure the fear center shrinks. The chili pepper gland (amigdala) is nice and plump before repeated trauma. Then becomes flatter and smaller. And, I don't know what meds can make it plump out again. None of them ever worked on me. Only thing that helped was just go right back in for more action. Now, I am really worthless.
@PleaseBeSmart ---sounds like you have never been in the military. I was in the Army with friends and relatives in the Marines. Most of what you speak of refers only to Basic Training/Boot Camp, Drill/Seargent/Warrant/Officers Academies OR Military Corrections/Stockades/JAIL And COMBAT vets.
But, during the four decades from the late 70s to the OOs, most anyone (especially a beer-aholic like me) in Peace/Beer Time Germany could have done a quick 20 years standing on their head. And, then get 6 or more months of unemployment checks,  a GI Bill for college + a 50% pension and go chase the college girls around at age 37. Triple dippers that could stick out like a woody in a harem.
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And believe me, I am no stranger to the misereably funded VA facility HQ'd in Roseburg. And, most pensionnaires who have seen combat don't live long enough to justify staying in for 20 years, nor do their surviving spouses and kids.
Of course, no one wants to cut the pension of the NAM vet whose cohorts had to battle the VA for decades over such obvious damage from things like Agent Orange, endless list. They are the ones lobbying for more VA benefits..
My emphasis has always been on helping the Youth, ESPECIALLY the Iraq/AfG combat soldier (family/kids/mortgage) that have seen 14 combat tours. If s(he) ever comes home at all.
We have gangs, and occupy, movements and civil unrest, because politicians and bureacrats cut everything except the fat. Which means they are cutting our younger generation to the bone in both military and civilian life.
 @peace Speaking only for those who see combat, specifically in the Army and Marines, I don't think you can make it reflect (even slightly) the reality of the private sector, because quite frankly the reality of the enlistment doesn't even come close to the reality of private sector jobs. As far as I can tell, most of this nation has NO IDEA what it's like in the military and in combat... For most Americas, our soldiers being at war for over a decade doesn't impact their day-to-day lives one single bit. It's 2 different worlds. The military restricts how far you can go from base without permission, if you're even granted permission, what places you're not allowed to go and businesses you're not allowed to patronage, far overreaching inspections of your home at a moment's notice, what vaccinations and medical care you WILL be forced to accept no matter the possible side effects, when you're going to go days without sleep or real subsistence, physical training that wears down your joints and often causes stress fractures, no option to "quit" or go where you want, having someone yell in your face when your pin is 1/32 of an inch away from where it's "supposed" to be, a bazillion rules that make very little sense like no white shirts in the chow hall and not putting your hands in your pockets even when it's -40 outside, not knowing when you'll be separated from you family and missing the birth of your kids, getting to deploy to dangerous areas where you'll face countless unseen dangers which cause the physical structure of your brain to change with prolonged exposure (the fear center enlarges,) a decent chance of death or serious injury to you or your buddies, insane rates of divorce, depression, suicide, PTSD, TBIs and anthrax vaccine side-effects. And when you're all done with that (and so much more!) you can look forward to years of fighting with the VA. So yes, if you've managed to sacrifice your freedom and your body for 20 years or until injured, you will be well compensated (assuming you've managed to win the fight with the DoD and VA in the case of injury.) Because really, who in their right mind would sign up for that crap unless there was generous compensation? Now, if you want to talk about slashing compensation for military pencil-pushers, postal employees and politicians, that's great. No argument. Politicians should get minimum wage, no benefits. Politics was never meant to be a career.
@PleaseBeSmart @peace ---public pensionnaires covers all of the above. And, generally, the more dangerous the occupation, the more generous the pension. AND, I don't want to GO AFTER their pensions. I just want their total retirement income to reflect (just slightly) the reality of the private sector of young workers today. OH WAIT, such a private sector has no pension system. Because, they are all temps and part-timers, who either work themselves to death in multiple part-time jobs (WITHOUT ANY BENEFITS WHATSOEVER) OR remain perpetually under-employed while supplementing their meager income by joining gangs and hustling for their next bag that will kill them sooner than the former. Contrast this with the never-seen-combat Airforce retiree who gets a COLA increase for 20 years of pencil pushing, AND 20 years at the post office pension AND Social Security now that (s)he is 65. With 40 years of uninterrupted income s(he's) got a supplementary private pension with sweetheart agreements from the public fat cats too. Quadrupal dipping leaves nothing but gangs trying to eat the rich. PAPA SUGAR (AKA UNCLE SAM'S MOOBS) have no milk left after breast-feeding the FAT CATS.
 @peace That has nothing to do with my comment or this story.
@Fennforests ---story asks for solutions to gang violence from the public. Your solution is to feed the fat cats no further, and encourage the police to do their jobs. I agreed and offered a supplementary solution to trim the waste line of public pensionnaires because their cohort is responsible for a policy of feeding the fat cats instead of generating jobs for the unemployed. I apologize if you are a silver spooner, baby boomer. I am not encouraging gerocide, just a little help for the younger "have nots" from the retired "have yachts". Nothing against yacht owners with sun damaged skin either. Â