By Dennis Box-The Courier-Herald

A resurgent problem of gangs in the state drew the attention of a legislative work group and what was discovered was both troubling and hopeful.

The extent of gang-related crime has been growing in the past years across the state and the problem has reached the Plateau.

The legislative work group was founded in 2007 when the state Senate passed Substitute Senate Bill 5987, which stated “…the people of Washington state face a crises brought upon by increased gang crime and violence….”

Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Greenwater, with Rep. Charles Ross, R-Naches, chaired the work group, which met monthly from August through December in Yakima, Bellingham, Spokane, Vancouver, Tacoma and SeaTac.

The group was made up of legislators, police and community workers. It gathered public testimony through forums scheduled in each of the cities and issued a report that will be the basis of legislation to fight the problem.

Hurst said he expects to sponsor an omnibus bill in the House and Adam Kline, D-Seattle, will sponsor a companion bill in the Senate.

The work group is recommending a three-pronged approach involving prevention, intervention and suppression.

“We want an approach that gets at the heart of the problem,” Hurst said. “We want to get smart about crime, not just tough.”

The group is hoping to craft legislation that helps keep young people from joining gangs and a plan to intervene in gang members' lives to get them away from criminal activity.

“We can't just go around telling people don't join gangs,” Hurst said. “There has to be other alternatives.”

The representative said there is also a need for swift police action to suppress and combat gang violence.

Hurst, who worked as a police officer for 25 years, said it might appear gangs are not a problem on the Plateau, “but we have had some incidents and we are going to have more. We need to look at Enumclaw and the Plateau and say ‘where do we want to be in five years?' It's not as bad as some areas, but do we want to wait? Don't underestimate how gangs can infiltrate a community. These gangsters are dangerous.”

Bonney Lake Police Chief Mike Mitchell said he is aware gangs are a growing problem in the area.

“It may not be as bad as the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, but it is coming up,” Mitchell said. “Anytime you can drive around neighborhoods and schools and see (gang) tagging, that is a key indicator.”

Mitchell said his department is working to see how deep the problem is and he agrees that communities need to combat the problem.

“There needs to be after-hours places where kids can go,” Mitchell said.

The chief said when he was on the police force in Mountlake Terrace, young people could go to a club called the Neutral Zone. Kids could not wear gang colors and were searched before they entered. It was a safe haven free of gangs, drugs and violence.

Both Hurst and Mitchell said one major factor drives the problem - the demand for drugs.

According to Hurst, the resurgence of gang activity the past few years is directly related to police agencies' success in closing down local methamphetamine labs.

The crime families located in Mexico began shipping high quality methamphetamine to feed the demand.

“The families had no connection to the old drug dealers so they went to the street gangs,” Hurst said. “The families needed someone to move the meth and all of a sudden the gangs could make money.”

With money they could again attract young people and entice them into criminal activity.

“As long as there is a market, they are going to keep bringing it up here,” Mitchell said. “And a lot of good young people will be talked into trying those drugs and go down.”

Mitchell said enforcement is not the only answer, which is why he intends to work with treatment facilities to help people break the hold of the drugs.

The work force's report is proposing a list of recommendations including stiff sentences for adults who recruit juveniles to commit gang crimes, a statewide “gang criminal intelligence database,” prevention-intervention pilot project and allowing jurisdictions to bring civil injunctions against gangs.

“We don't want to make the same mistakes we made in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s,” Hurst said. “We always need enforcement, but that will not solve the problem. Prosecutors and police are asking for community involvement. Every person that does not join a gang and we don't have to incarcerate saves us $27,000 a year.”

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@courierherald.com.