Living In Gangland: Outlook Community Activist Wants A Town Where People Aren’t Afraid
040811AK_Gangs_Part2.wav jpg Series feature 5:13 4/8/11 Anna King/CF

OUTLOOK, Wash. – Outlook, Washington is a tiny unincorporated township near Yakima. It’s mostly known for the massive dairies that flank it. But now, it’s become infamous as a likely place where residents fear they could be shot. This week we’re taking a look at what police say is a resurgence of gang activity -- especially in rural areas. In part two of “Living in Gangland,” Correspondent Anna King brings us the story of Outlook, and one woman who is fighting to get the town back.

Sound: Car blinker
When “Maria” gets off Interstate 82 and heads down the off ramp for Outlook – she starts praying … that she’ll get home safe today. Outlook’s a tiny cross-hatch of a town. Just a shack of a post office, a church and a few streets -- some of them dirt. But Maria has decided to draw her line in the sand against gangs here.

Maria: “Younger kids, I just wish that they could ride their bikes like nothing you know. As a mom I wouldn’t let my kids out in the streets riding a bike or even go play with the neighbors. You don’t know if there is going to be a drive by shooting.”

That’s right, drive by shootings in a dairy town. Maria’s 36, and a mother of three. And Maria isn’t really her name, but she’s too scared of the gangs here to use her real one on the radio. Just in 20-10 there were 29 homicides in Yakima County. In Outlook alone, there were four armed assaults against people and about 50 cases of people using their weapons illegally against houses, dogs and even a horse. In 2009, someone ambushed and shot a Yakima County Sherriff’s deputy. It happened not far from where Maria is taking a community survey. Her leopard-print ear muffs look out of place amid the neighborhood’s chain-link fences and pit bulls.
Maria: “Even if they are little dogs I’m scared.”
Sound: Dogs, knocking
At this small house she gets an answer. The man at the door doesn’t want me to use his name either. He answers questions from Maria’s clipboard.
Maria: “Do you feel safe in your home?”
Outlook Man: “A lot of times I don’t.”
Maria: “Do you feel safe that when you leave town that your house is going to be safe?”
Outlook Man: “No.”
Maria: “Do you feel safe walking in the streets?”
Outlook Man: “No, that’s why I don’t.”
Maria: “In the day and in the night?”
Outlook Man: “Same deal. You never know.”

Maria asks the man if he’d like to volunteer to make his community better. He says he’s busy.

Maria: “It’s hard because there are people that are willing to talk, and then there are those that are willing to just shut down. And if they are willing to shut down and don’t want to do anything about it … you can’t empower a person that doesn’t want to be empowered.”

But you don’t have to know Maria long before you know she’s determined. She hands anyone else who will listen colorful fliers with ideas for change: street lights in town, a community garden or after-school activities for kids. Back in the car I ask her how can paper fliers stand a chance against gang members and guns?

Maria: “It doesn’t seem like a fair fight but we have to start somewhere. We can’t just do nothing about it and cross our hands and act like it’s not there.”
Anna King: “Why are you so brave, what drives you, why do you care about this so much?
Maria: “I understand them because I grew up in that environment. I grew up in a family where my brothers are in gangs. It’s hard. I want that to stop. I want to break the cycle. That’s what drives me every day.”

Maria says people in Outlook like the idea of replacing old abandoned trailers with a community garden or park. They’re just scared of their own neighbors.
But why are gangs in Outlook to begin with? For that, I turn to Northwest Gang Expert Gabriel Morales. His home base is King County, but he travels the region training law enforcement on the latest trends with gangs.
Morales says small towns are easy prey for gangs in part because they aren’t equipped with gang-enforcement units.

Gabriel Morales: “I think police suppression in our larger cities is part of the issue. Pushing gangs out into suburbs, outlying areas and rural areas. But you also have changing demographics. For instance in the city of Seattle, it’s very expensive to live. They’ve knocked down a lot of the housing projects that used to have a lot of gang activity.”

Morales also says that gangs can more easily keep an eye on police activity in small towns than they can in more urban settings. He adds rural areas also don’t usually have much money for prevention programs. For Maria the ideal Outlook is a town where people can walk down the street without being afraid.

Maria: “People say we’ve got to get rid of those gangs. Well they’re still human. I see both sides. That’s why I’m involved in this social services because if there is help for the youth, maybe there is hope for the gangs.”

Maria and other community activists have landed small grants to make some changes in Outlook. They’ve painted over most of the graffiti in town -- but it keeps coming back. They put up seven street lights -- but they say they need more. And they’ve established a neighborhood block watch -- but say many people are afraid to participate. For now the gang members still have the upper hand, but Maria says it’s a start.

I’m Anna King in Outlook, Washington.

Copyright 2011 Northwest Public Radio

Living In Gangland: Outlook Community Activist Wants A Town Where People Aren’t Afraid
040811AK_Gangs_Part2.wav jpg Series feature 5:13 4/8/11 Anna King/CF

OUTLOOK, Wash. – Outlook, Washington is a tiny unincorporated township near Yakima. It’s mostly known for the massive dairies that flank it. But now, it’s become infamous as a likely place where residents fear they could be shot. This week we’re taking a look at what police say is a resurgence of gang activity -- especially in rural areas. In part two of “Living in Gangland,” Correspondent Anna King brings us the story of Outlook, and one woman who is fighting to get the town back.

Sound: Car blinker
When “Maria” gets off Interstate 82 and heads down the off ramp for Outlook – she starts praying … that she’ll get home safe today. Outlook’s a tiny cross-hatch of a town. Just a shack of a post office, a church and a few streets -- some of them dirt. But Maria has decided to draw her line in the sand against gangs here.

Maria: “Younger kids, I just wish that they could ride their bikes like nothing you know. As a mom I wouldn’t let my kids out in the streets riding a bike or even go play with the neighbors. You don’t know if there is going to be a drive by shooting.”

That’s right, drive by shootings in a dairy town. Maria’s 36, and a mother of three. And Maria isn’t really her name, but she’s too scared of the gangs here to use her real one on the radio. Just in 20-10 there were 29 homicides in Yakima County. In Outlook alone, there were four armed assaults against people and about 50 cases of people using their weapons illegally against houses, dogs and even a horse. In 2009, someone ambushed and shot a Yakima County Sherriff’s deputy. It happened not far from where Maria is taking a community survey. Her leopard-print ear muffs look out of place amid the neighborhood’s chain-link fences and pit bulls.
Maria: “Even if they are little dogs I’m scared.”
Sound: Dogs, knocking
At this small house she gets an answer. The man at the door doesn’t want me to use his name either. He answers questions from Maria’s clipboard.
Maria: “Do you feel safe in your home?”
Outlook Man: “A lot of times I don’t.”
Maria: “Do you feel safe that when you leave town that your house is going to be safe?”
Outlook Man: “No.”
Maria: “Do you feel safe walking in the streets?”
Outlook Man: “No, that’s why I don’t.”
Maria: “In the day and in the night?”
Outlook Man: “Same deal. You never know.”

Maria asks the man if he’d like to volunteer to make his community better. He says he’s busy.

Maria: “It’s hard because there are people that are willing to talk, and then there are those that are willing to just shut down. And if they are willing to shut down and don’t want to do anything about it … you can’t empower a person that doesn’t want to be empowered.”

But you don’t have to know Maria long before you know she’s determined. She hands anyone else who will listen colorful fliers with ideas for change: street lights in town, a community garden or after-school activities for kids. Back in the car I ask her how can paper fliers stand a chance against gang members and guns?

Maria: “It doesn’t seem like a fair fight but we have to start somewhere. We can’t just do nothing about it and cross our hands and act like it’s not there.”
Anna King: “Why are you so brave, what drives you, why do you care about this so much?
Maria: “I understand them because I grew up in that environment. I grew up in a family where my brothers are in gangs. It’s hard. I want that to stop. I want to break the cycle. That’s what drives me every day.”

Maria says people in Outlook like the idea of replacing old abandoned trailers with a community garden or park. They’re just scared of their own neighbors.
But why are gangs in Outlook to begin with? For that, I turn to Northwest Gang Expert Gabriel Morales. His home base is King County, but he travels the region training law enforcement on the latest trends with gangs.
Morales says small towns are easy prey for gangs in part because they aren’t equipped with gang-enforcement units.

Gabriel Morales: “I think police suppression in our larger cities is part of the issue. Pushing gangs out into suburbs, outlying areas and rural areas. But you also have changing demographics. For instance in the city of Seattle, it’s very expensive to live. They’ve knocked down a lot of the housing projects that used to have a lot of gang activity.”

Morales also says that gangs can more easily keep an eye on police activity in small towns than they can in more urban settings. He adds rural areas also don’t usually have much money for prevention programs. For Maria the ideal Outlook is a town where people can walk down the street without being afraid.

Maria: “People say we’ve got to get rid of those gangs. Well they’re still human. I see both sides. That’s why I’m involved in this social services because if there is help for the youth, maybe there is hope for the gangs.”

Maria and other community activists have landed small grants to make some changes in Outlook. They’ve painted over most of the graffiti in town -- but it keeps coming back. They put up seven street lights -- but they say they need more. And they’ve established a neighborhood block watch -- but say many people are afraid to participate. For now the gang members still have the upper hand, but Maria says it’s a start.

I’m Anna King in Outlook, Washington.

Copyright 2011 Northwest Public Radio