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Denver's delinquency dilemma
By David Pollan
dpollan@mscd.edu

By now everyone knows that Colorado, and Denver in particular, has a gang problem of massive proportions.

A recent report released by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation stated that Colorado is home to 12,741 confirmed gang members affiliated with 110 street gangs. Of those, 8,811 confirmed gang members affiliated with 78 gangs live in Denver.

The numbers are so staggering and disheartening they have many people wondering if another “summer of violence” is on the horizon. The Denver Post quoted Denver police Lt. Ken Chavez saying: “It could take just one incident. We could be one incident away from a perfect storm.”

Hopefully, this is not the case, but hoping is not nearly enough.

The gang problem in Colorado was brought to the forefront of people’s attention with the slaying of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams. The crime is suspected to be gang-related mainly because the car used in the drive-by shooting that killed Williams in the early hours of the New Year was registered to a member of the Tre Tre Crips, one of the 78 gangs in Denver.

The murder of Williams was not the first of its kind; it just happened to be the only one to get media attention. In fact, from 1999 to 2006 there were 496 homicides in Denver, 91 of which were classified as gang-related. That’s 18 percent of all murders in Denver. The Denver Post reported that suspected gang crimes in Denver are up 35 percent since 1999, but the number of anti-gang officers has stayed relatively the same, floating between 37 and 45. Currently, there are 42 officers to 8,811 confirmed gang members in Denver. This is unacceptable.

This has been a problem for too long, and it’s only getting worse. Now is not the time to dwell on the past or how we could have prevented all of this; it’s too late for that. It’s time for the community to step up and start working toward ridding this city of these reckless thugs, whose only concern is committing heinous acts of violence. This form of domestic terrorism should at least be given more attention than it currently gets. The United States spends billions on fighting terrorism every year; why not spend a fraction of that fighting gang violence?

The problem lies in the fact that these groups have been overlooked for years. There needs to be a major movement to prevent these kids from joining gangs and keeping them involved with school and sports. But that needs to start with those who have the power to create change.

Where are the pro athletes and other prominent figures in the area? Why are they not speaking out or lending a hand? Their silence disgusts me. They are the leaders and role models for the community; it’s time for them to lend a helping hand to this growing problem.

Who is on the front lines, you ask?

The Rev. Leon Kelly is, along with a few others. Kelly runs Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives, a youth advocacy center that provides alternatives to gang violence and gang activity. He has been doing this for 20 years, but he can’t do it alone. He sure as hell can’t do it without funding from the state or city and with a limited and insufficient annual budget. He has such limited funding that he can only afford to keep two to three people on staff. Kelly does good work for the community in an area that needs more like him.

So why won’t the city give his program funding? Why does the gang unit in Denver only get $3.6 million annually? Why are politicians more worried about immigration and keeping people out of the state than they are about keeping the people in this state alive?

I’ll tell you why. It comes down to racism. It’s the same reason no one in the media ever bothered to look into gang crimes until Williams was killed. The reason is that the people getting killed and the crimes that are taking place happen in poor neighborhoods populated mostly by
minorities.

Wake up, Denver! There is a gang problem. If you were previously unaware of this problem, you are informed of it now. There are no more excuses for sitting around and doing nothing. The question now becomes: What are you going to do about it? Like my dad always said, knowing about a problem and doing something about it are two completely different things.

We are all equal, and we are all here together. It’s time to start looking out for one another and making the streets safe for everyone. The time has come to create change, and that change begins with you.