2012 conventions 2012 election 2013 session arts arts and culture author ballot measures basketball bomb books boy scouts budget bullying business charlie hales children clackamas climate change coal college courts crime culture culture club democrats drugs economy education environment family film fluoride food gay rights guns handguns health health care health insurance high school history housing immigration internet kitzhaber language law legislature lgbt literary arts living marijuana marriage media medicine mental health military minor parties mohamed mohamud movies music native americans news newspaper obama olympics oregon our town parenting pers photography police politcs politics port portland portland business journal president prevention public safety religion republicans rnc romney rural salem sam adams sandy hook schools science shooting sports suicide supreme court taxes technology television terrorism theater third parties transportation union university of oregon washington wildfire women

I'd like to know from the union: when do they think it is okay to shoot an unarmed person in the back? Who gave the order to shoot? Also I agree with one of the callers police everywhere need to look at who they are hiring and what type of behavior they are looking for in a police officer.

posted 2 years, 6 months ago
view in context

If we would follow the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model we might be able to make some headway. It's been proven effective, and is used by many other agencies across the nation. I don't understand what the issue is about implementing it here in Multnomah County.

posted 3 years, 11 months ago
view in context

I work directly with male Latino gang affected youth in Multnomah County. Most youth are on probation for felony offenses. The key in my opinion to combating gang violence and gangs in general is PREVENTION. Most youth I work with have been involved in gangs for over 2 years. They have been influenced at an early age by friends and/or family members. Youth join gangs for one major reason, BELONGING. Some want to belong because they don't find success through traditional means such as school, sports, and clubs. Some feel the need to belong because their immediate family are involved and to not be in a gang would mean not belonging to their own family. Youth prevention dollars are often the first cut in tough economic times, and without this early intervention youth will be left to make choices without some sort of guidance and support.

In terms of the system we need to work together on the issues of gang violence. We can not arrest our way out of the problem. I often read posts to questions asked like those on TOL and many of the responses are "lock 'em up" "put them in jail" "deport them". However this is only a quick bandaid. Sooner or later most people get out of detention, jail, prison and many who are deported return. Without providing proper skills and support they WILL return to what is easy for them, crime and gangs. I agree there are people that need to be removed from the community for public safety purposes. However, if agencies could work together before major incidents happen, such as a homicide, we could perhaps prevent and intervene when tensions are high. Instead when there is an incident such as the one that took the life of Ms. Borishell, all of us in the system are running around chasing our tails to get out there and prevent something from happening, after the fact. I feel we tend to be a reactive system instead of a proactive system.

posted 3 years, 11 months ago
view in context