Light Rail Myths and Realities 4972

lustful riders demanding to ride all day long in order to fulfill their hidden needs?

Maybe they are, but it's just that the Oregonians here are too ashamed to discuss it:

Latina gangs taking hold in Portland area, police say

Police agencies worry that gang activity for teenage girls will escalate from graffiti to violence

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

CHUCK SLOTHOWER The Oregonian

Latina gangs are starting to establish their own turf, from Gresham to Beaverton.

"It's big time," said John Sena, a member of the Clackamas County Youth Gang Task Force. "It's unlike anything in local history. We're having almost as many referrals for females as we are for males."

Police and others who work with teenagers say at least three separate Latina gangs operate in the Portland area, with activity noted in Portland, Beaverton, Canby, Hillsboro, Gresham and Milwaukie.

"There's been a transition," said Officer Russ Corno of the Portland Police Bureau's Gang Enforcement Team. "A few years ago, the female gang members were viewed as property of the male gang members. For them to branch out and form their own gangs under their own names is really something that we're only seeing in the last two years."

He said most Latina gang members are in their early to mid-teens and gang activity typically involves graffiti and intimidation. He worries that the seriousness of their crimes will increase as the girls get older and the gangs become more established.

Many of the gangs in the Portland area grew out of California, and some of their members in the Portland area moved from there, Sena said.

Sena said female gangs take their cues from their male counterparts and many impoverished Latina gang members have boyfriends in gangs and sometimes rely on them for basics such as food and shelter.

"Some of these kids eat a piece of bread for breakfast," Sena said.

Rebecca, a Milwaukie-area teenager who declined to give her last name, said she joined Latin Babes, one of the largest Latina gangs in the area, for protection after getting involved in several fights.

She said Latin Babes has about 35 members in Milwaukie, who range in age from 13 to 18.

"We tag," she said, using a slang term for graffiti. "If we see girls we don't like, we'll jump them and take their stuff. We get into trouble. Basically, all we do is go party."

Rebecca said she has been arrested twice for spraying graffiti. She said she gets good grades but skipped school at least two days in February because she feared she would have to fight a rival gang member.

Sena said he regularly calls Rebecca just to check in, hoping to keep her in school and out of trouble.

It's hard to get girls out of gangs once they join, Sena said. "And she's a perfect example."

"But there is hope," he said. "We don't give up on them."

Most of the girl gang members are high school or middle school students, Corno said, and gang activities tend to revolve around their schools.

To reduce gang activity, Sena is encouraging schools to replace out-of-school suspensions with in-school punishments.

Gresham police Officer Scott Hogan, who works in gang enforcement, said Latina gangs in Gresham have at least 40 members who have a history of buttault, criminal mischief, curfew violations, and alcohol and drug violations.

"They do the same kind of activities that their male counterparts are involved in," he said.

Canby police have noticed Latina gang members socializing in town and say they're watching for signs of criminal activity.

"They're not as active as the guys," Sgt. Jorge Tro said. "What I'm afraid of is that it could grow."

Hogan said girls join gangs for the same reason boys do, to develop a sense of belonging.

"They're looking for a group they identify with and that identifies with them," he said.