Pressure on Denver mayor to crush gang problem

Politicians say now's time to take hard stand

April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 10, 2007 at midnight

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Influential politicians called on Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper on Friday to take a stand against gangs, a blunt demand that brought a strong defense from the city's chief executive.

City Council President Michael Hancock and Denver Democrat Sen. Peter Groff urged Hickenlooper to stand up and say "enough is enough."

"I think we need strong leadership from the chief executive of this city to say: not again, and not on my watch," said Groff during a Democratic caucus at the state Capitol. "The gang activity is beginning to spread in a pattern we have seen before.

"We need leadership from his office to begin to squash this problem before we have another summer of violence," he said, referring to the spike in gang crime in 1993.

A visibly blindsided Hickenlooper said his administration has mounted an aggressive, regional campaign to tackle the problem, but that it has chosen to listen to experts and not boast about it.

"Let's make it clear we have gang problems, even though the actual crime data doesn't show that," he said. "It doesn't say we have a serious problem with gangs, but that doesn't mean we aren't seriously addressing it."

National crime experts contend that publicizing gangs by name only adds to their street mystique.

"To try to go out there and do a campaign and name names, saying we're going to get this gang or that gang is not the right approach," Hickenlooper said. Gang crime in Denver is drawing increased attention because of the Jan. 1 death of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams, who police believe was shot by someone in a sport utility vehicle registered to a known gang leader.

Colorado is home to 12,741 confirmed gang members who are affiliated with 110 street gangs, according to the director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Denver appears to be home to the most gang members in Colorado.

Gang activity is so prevalent in the parks in northeast and south Denver neighborhoods that children are reluctant to go outside, Groff and Hancock said.

"The experts are not living in neighborhoods where residents feel fearful and their kids feel fearful of even going to play in the park," Hancock said. "We have to be prepared to react, no matter what part of the city it is in."

It's the second time in recent weeks that Hancock, a once reliable Hickenlooper ally, has publicly chastised the mayor. Hancock took Hickenlooper to task over streets still covered in ice more than a month after the Dec. 20 blizzard. Hancock and Groff pointed out that the Los Angeles Police Department has mounted a public campaign that targets the most violent gang members.

Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman called Los Angeles' gang strategy unwise. He said that a metrowide gang task force, which includes Denver, Aurora and neighboring counties, has ramped up investigations of gang crimes.

"My theory is we're not going to solve the gang problem in the media like L.A.," Whitman said in an interview. "Naming gangs in the media only empowers the gangs that are named and challenges the ones who are not. The last thing the city wants to do is put on a membership drive, especially for a street gang. We do the opposite by arresting these criminals and putting them in the crime database."

In recent months, the Department of Public Safety has revived the Metro Gang Coalition, which was formed in the early 1990s. The coalition is made up of former gang members, service providers and others who develop gang intervention and prevention programs.

"There is a huge coordinated effort of gang intervention in the city," Whitman said. "It's a widespread problem. You see them popping up in Greeley and places that never have seen that level of violence, particularly related to drug trade and trafficking."

washingtonam@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5086

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