Gangs stay relatively quiet in Mattawa & Royal

SOUTH COUNTY - The news about gang activity in Royal City and Mattawa nowadays is relatively good news. Even Sunnyside, a neighbor in Yakima County, is reporting good news.

Taking a tough stance has worked in all three communities, according to law enforcement and school leaders. They took measures that made life uncomfortable for gang members.

Sunnyside became so gang-ridden in 2010-2011, according to Commander of Operations Scott Baley, that there was one homicide for every seven drive-by shootings.

Baley said Sunnyside got serious. It added two officers to the police force, adjusted patrol schedules and formed a gang unit.

"That put two extra people to concentrate on gang identification and gang movements," Baley said. "We actually sought them out. We basically took the fight to them."

It was not a physical fight but an attitude shift, Baley said. Through social contact - "Hi, how are you, what you doing?" - Sunnyside police made it clear to suspected gang members that they were continuously on the radar.

Royal City Police Chief Darin Smith, 25 years on the job, noted his community took the same approach. Police and the school district made it clear gang members were unwelcome.

The same was the case in Mattawa, outgoing eight-year Wahluke High Principal Jeff Pietila said. His school even adopted somewhat of a uniform of school colors. And gang colors were disallowed.

"We do serious diligence," Pietila said. "You can't wear gang clothing. If you do, you are suspended or expelled."

Under the uniform rule, every Wahluke student must wear a polo shirt of the school colors. It can be under a jacket or sweater, but it must be worn.

"We always check," Pietila said.

Sunnyside has instituted a crime-free rental housing program. It trains landlords on how to avoid or be rid of problem tenants, does background checks for them and assists on emergency evictions.

And the city has seized properties of individuals who pose chronic gang problems. Some properties have been sold to new owners, and buildings have been demolished on others.

Now, Baley said, Sunnyside does not have what used to be called a gang problem.

Smith noted the high point for gang activity for his community came in 2007. The department adopted a "zero tolerance" attitude and asked school district administrators to help.

He suggested the schools "throw the book at them" and "expel them" every time there was a gang incident at school.

"We asked them to call us, especially if they had weapons," Smith said. "It was tough at first because educators want the kids in school."

That same year, Royal City and Mattawa were aided immensely by a sweep of the county by U.S. Marshals. Off of lists generated by the communities, gang members who were here illegally were arrested and deported.

"We made it uncomfortable being here," Smith said.

Smith said his force started a social contact program at that time. One of the officers, Randy Russness, had an uncle who was a sergeant on the gang unit in Seattle. Russness was schooled by the uncle on how to make social contact work, and he passed the training on to the department.

All crime in Royal City dropped from about 1,000 calls in 2007 to about 500 calls last year. There were 37 gang graffiti cases in 2007 and only four in 2014.

Mattawa Police Chief John Turley is familiar with the sweep U.S. Marshals made in 2007. He was a deputy for the Grant County Sheriff then.

Turley worked often in the Mattawa area. Gang activity today is almost non-existent compared to that time, he said.

Crime records keeping in Mattawa was not good in 2007. It started to improve in 2009. That year the Mattawa PD answered 24 gang-related calls. In 2014, it answered 15.

Those figures compare well with Royal City, which has about one-third the population of Mattawa.

The MPD does not have a SRO presence in the schools, but Turley is a community policing advocate. He organizes events and programs for youngsters from pre-school through high school. Some are community service projects like Trunk-or-Treat on Halloween and Decorated Trees for Shut-ins at Christmas time.

"John's a real advocate for kids," Pietila said. "He's here every time we call. In an emergency he'll be here immediately."

Pietila noted most students are proud of their school buildings, and graffiti is a rare problem. But when graffiti appears, it is cleaned up immediately, he said.