Othello police chief explains gang policy

OTHELLO — Othello police Chief Steve Dunnagan updated Othello City Council on police gang policies Monday night.

The update was given due to concerns about gang activity in the city.

He began by showing the council and audience a slide show of gang graffiti found in Los Angeles, Calif.

Dunnagan said graffiti is a problem in Othello but is small in comparison to other areas.

He shared research he’s learned about gangs.

About 10 percent of gang members in Othello cause 90 percent of gang-related crime, he said. There are variations in gangs, activities and problems. Gang problems evolve in response to direct intervention by the community. Community reaction to gangs varies from denial to sensationalism, he said.

There are three ways to deal with gangs. It involves prevention, intervention and enforcement, he said.

The successful way to address gangs is to involve several groups including parents, school officials, police, court and citizens as an intervention tool.

Before gang activity is identified as a problem, it must harm the community more than once, be a concern to the public and have more than one similarity between the two incidents.

Once it’s identified, it is addressed, he said. The steps identifying it as a problem are to prevent hasty decisions.

“Some gangs are known to participate in drugs and violence,” Dunnagan said. “Some are not. Currently, our gangs in Othello fall into the ‘are not’ category. That is not to say that some person that is a member of a gang is not selling drugs but that does mean that as a group, there is not a large, sophisticated ring …selling drugs to fund gang operations, goals or gang properties.”

He recalled in March, an FBI task force served a search warrant in Adams County leading to the recovery of three kilos of cocaine, three kilos of methamphetamine and roughly $167,000.

“These were not gang members,” Dunnagan said. “This was a family, a crime family, that was doing organized drug business in our area.”

He continued to explain gangs in Othello are loose knit and informal. They are not committing organized crimes but there are spontaneous incidents of serious nature including the gang-related homicide shooting that happened in Taggares Park recently.

“Those incidents will be dealt with by properly applying investigative techniques, arrest and prosecution of the offenders,” he said.

Othello’s most immediate gang-related problem is graffiti.

“Gang graffiti is our most evident sign gangs are active in Othello,” Dunnagan said. “Gang members aren’t hanging out on the street corners or in the parks intimidating people.”

He said currently gang problems are not as serious as they could be.

“(They) are not as serious as what other towns similarly suited are experiencing and this is the way we want to keep it,” he said. “Because we are proactive, I believe we will keep things from getting out of control.”

The police chief explained what Othello has done to prevent and suppress gang activity.

A policy was created in 2006 to document gang activity properly. A designated police officer collects gang information and shares it with other law enforcement and other agencies. A student resource officer continues to work with the Othello School District and the department has implemented gang awareness training.

He said the majority of crime committed in the community is not gang-related although there are gang-related crimes.

Unless a gang member is committing a crime to further the reputation of a gang, it is not a gang crime, Dunnagan said.

Once a gang member is identified, Dunnagan sends them a letter informing them they have been noted as a gang member by police. They are given the option to refute the label.

“I have never heard back from anyone I’ve sent a letter (to),” he said.

Being a gang member is not a crime, but the letter serves as a purpose for law enforcement to let them know they are aware.

Being a gang member becomes a crime once criminal activity such as graffiti becomes involved, he said.

The police department will continue to use the resources they have in place to deal with gangs and will continue to meet regularly to brainstorm solutions to the issue, he said.

Councilmember Eleanor Brodahl was absent from the meeting due to a work obligation.