GANGS - Gangs in the Valley: An overview

Handful of established gangs encompass hundreds of members and affiliates.

The Walla Walla Valley has approximately five established gangs. They are: The 18 Street gang (with Westside and Northside cliques), Florencia 13, Eastgate Posse, Deuce Four Seven Crips and Labor Camp Soldiers.

We estimate there are 300-500 gang members/affiliates in the Walla Walla Valley from the "wannabe" level up through the veteran gangster. It is very difficult to put an exact number on the membership/affiliation because we are seeing more and more youths (male and female) showing an interest in gangs.

The "wannabe" is a term used to imply someone is not a "real gangster," but only wants to be. Law enforcement's gang unit does not like this term because it implies there is no real threat. It has been our experience that someone has either adopted the gang mentality or has not.

Walla Walla first recognized the presence of gangs by graffiti markings in the late 1980s. The Valley's two most established gangs are 18 Street and Florencia 13. Most 18 Street membership/affiliation lives within the city of Walla Walla. Most Florencia 13 membership/affiliation lives in the Milton-Freewater area.

Both of these gangs are Sureño-based, meaning they emulate Southern California Hispanic-style gangs. They use the color blue as their gang color. They will display this in the clothing they wear and the handkerchiefs they carry nicely folded and pressed. This is referred to as their "flag." If a subject is displaying a flag in this manner, chances are pretty good he or she has been accepted into the gang by being jumped in.

18 Street and Florencia 13 rival each other. Both gangs are involved in assaults, graffiti, drive-by shootings and narcotics use and sales. We estimate 18 Street has approximately 200 members/affiliates locally and Florencia 13 has approximately 100 members/affiliates locally.

Eastgate Posse started in the early 1990s. It originated in the city of Walla Walla and started as a group of friends who got tired of being picked on by the more established gangs. This group claimed it was not a gang, but a "posse."

In the 1990s, we saw this group rival with 18 Street. It has moved more into narcotic sales to include marijuana and ecstasy. Eastgate Posse uses the color red as its gang color. We estimate Eastgate Posse has approximately 25 members/affiliates locally.

Deuce Four Seven Crips originated in the city of Walla Walla around 2007. It started as a rap group, then adopted the gang mentality. It is not a traditional Crips gang, but has members/affiliates of several different races. We have been told it has some affiliation with the 74 Hoover Crips in the Seattle/Tacoma area.

This gang rivals the 18 Street gang. We have heard it works together with Florencia 13 to rival 18 Street. Members use the colors blue, orange and white as their gang colors. They are involved in assaults, graffiti and narcotics use. We estimate Deuce Four Seven Crips has approximately 25 members/affiliates locally.

Labor Camp Soldiers originated at the Walla Walla Farm Labor Homes in Walla Walla County about two-and-a-half years ago. This group started as a group of friends who got tired of being picked on by the 18 Street gang. They primarily rival the 18 Street gang.

They are involved in assaults (mostly with 18 Street) and graffiti. We estimate Labor Camp Soldiers has approximately 20 members/affiliates locally.

Walla Walla seems to be following national trends in that we have seen the open display of gang membership/affiliation. The media, video games, movies, music and the Internet have popularized the gang lifestyle and youths seem to be adopting this lifestyle.

Walla Walla has had major gang-related crimes, such as drive-by shootings and major assaults. We also have seen gang members become more aggressive toward authority figures. This is especially true with 18 Street. Members have challenged officers to fight and, in one case, an officer trying to make an arrest was punched in the face by an 18 Street gang member.

Walla Walla does have a gang presence and we do have serious gang issues, but we are nowhere near the level of surrounding communities such as the Tri-Cities or the Yakima Valley, where they are experiencing continuous major assaults, drive-by shootings and homicides.

What is the city doing?

To effectively combat gang issues in a community, there must be a three-pronged approach: prevention, intervention and suppression. To accomplish this, it takes the collaborative effort of the community. The Walla Walla Police Department has a history of dedicating itself to the suppression element of the triad that will be discussed in more detail below.

Prevention

The most effective method of prevention takes place in the home.

Although the city of Walla Walla does not have a program officially dedicated to the prevention of gang involvement, the gang unit does serve as a catalyst through home visits. When a friend, parent, teacher or juvenile probation officer becomes concerned with behavior indicative of interest in gang culture the gang unit can be requested to conduct a home visit.

This consists of a non-criminal investigative contact with the youth and the parents/guardians during which the detectives educate the parents on the at-risk behavior. The youth is provided a non-confrontational setting to explain his or her interest in gang culture or why someone may have perceived this to be. With parent permission, a survey of the youth's room is conducted and gang-related paraphernalia is brought to the parents' attention.

These visits are performed as a courtesy and are preventative in nature. However, as criminal caseloads increase during upswings in gang activity, the available time for these home visits is reduced significantly.

Organized prevention programs such as G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education And Training) do exist, but staffing/budgets make implementation of these programs difficult.

Intervention

A periodic sentence-based counseling program through the city of Walla Walla Attorney's Office for gang-related crime has eliminated a previously existing vacuum in that area.

The program, which has used a volunteer, rehabilitated former gang member and now-successful member of the community, mandates attendance at counseling sessions for those young adults who have been convicted of gang-related offenses or have a history of destructive behavior tied to gang activity.

No empirical data has been collected regarding the success of this program; however anecdotal evidence suggests some measure of individual impact.

No other known intervention programs exist in the Walla Walla area.

Suppression

The city of Walla Walla has long been proactive in dealing with gang issues.

The Walla Walla Police Department established a gang unit in 1992 and has, since inception, maintained the unit at various levels of staffing with the exception of a brief disbandment immediately following the passage of Initiative 695 due to funding. The city of Walla Walla retained the gang unit even during times when larger cities in the state, such as Tacoma, did not have officers specifically dedicated to gang investigations and intelligence.

The Walla Walla Police Department continues to send its gang unit detectives to training events to keep up with ongoing trends. The gang unit detectives also give presentations to civic groups, schools and other organizations. They meet once a month with local law enforcement agencies including Walla Walla County prosecutors, Washington state Community Corrections officers and Walla Walla County juvenile probation officers. The gang unit also monitors youth functions where gang activity is high.

The gang unit works in cooperation with the city of Walla Walla code enforcement officers who take reports of, document and when possible cover graffiti within the city limits.

Suppression is the primary purpose of the gang unit and is demonstrated through its aggressive pursuit of gang-related crimes, involving itself in cases from reception to prosecution, and working in conjunction with the patrol officers and prosecuting attorneys from the city and county of Walla Walla.

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