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Pocatello Police are Proactive to Deter Gang Activity

Posted on: October 19, 2007

By Robert Guymon
October 19, 2007

There is gang activity in the Gate City but it is not a major problem yet. The Pocatello Police Department is taking a “proactive” approach to deter gang activity says Officer Noe Baca with the Community Services Division.

During the summer of 2007 the Old Town business area was the target of a rash of vandalism. Many businesses were tagged with graffiti spray painted on the outside of the buildings which caused some concern about gang activity. Three teenage boys confessed to the deed butt they weren’t gang members marking their territory, instead they’re known as the Inter City Artists who tagged the buildings with their artistic expressions.

Pocatello had an insurgence of gang activity in the mid 1990s with the 18th Street gang. They originated in the Los Angeles, California area in the 1960s comprised of Hispanics and are violent and involved in a variety of criminal activities.

There are currently 12 gangs that are of interest to the Pocatello Police Department. Some of these gangs are Sur 13 (Surenos), Crips, Bloods, Villains, and some tribal gangs. School Resource Officers are gathering intelligence on gangs to keep them from becoming a bigger problem.

The Pocatello Police Department enacted the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) program; a national program designed to deter children from joining gangs and being involved in criminal activity and is part of the school curriculum. A police officer teaches children how to resist being caught up in gang activity, and the need to stay away from delinquent behavior and avoid violence. The program gives children a positive interaction with a police officer.

There are four parts to the GREAT program: A six session elementary school program, a 13 session middle school program, a summer program, and a six session program for families. The elementary school program is for fourth and fifth graders to teach them to avoid aggressive behavior. The middle school program teaches violence prevention and how to avoid gang pressure. The summer program is to give kids something positive to do and relieve the boredom when there is no school. A variety of educational, recreational, and sports activities are used to help the kids grow socially, cognitively, and personally. The GREAT families program is for children from 10 to 14 years of age and their parents to encourage positive family interaction and development.

“Pocatello is one of the better places to live in the Pacific Northwest” according to Officer Baca. Gang activity is not a major problem right now and hopefully this proactive approach the Pocatello Police Department is taking will keep gangs from taking a hold in the Gate City.

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