Chipping away at metro gangs

City pursues diverse strategy against violence

Jeff Kass, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 17, 2007 at midnight

Text size

More Local News

More stories »

Two hands clenched together in unity are the centerpiece of a mural that went up outside the Golden Gate Market in Northeast Denver this past weekend.

"Neighborhoods united," the mural reads in Spanish, along with, "Ceasefire for the love of our families."

Standing outside the colorful mural Thursday was Denver police Capt. Mike Calo, who oversees the gang unit, and Commander Rhonda Jones of District 2, which includes Golden Gate and the surrounding Cole-Whittier neighborhoods.

That juxtaposition - of paint and police officers - illustrates what city officials say is a stepped-up, multifaceted push this year to crack down on violence, especially gang-related incidents.

The approach got under way in January, when the Metro Denver Gang Coalition was resurrected as the shooting death of Broncos' cornerback Darrent Williams crystallized the need to address gang violence.

Nobody has been charged in Williams' death, but the investigation has focused on suspected gang members.

By April, federal grant money seeped into city streets for programs such as increased foot patrols.

Then about three weeks ago, officers from a variety of units - including gang, traffic and vice - began surging into northeast Denver. The result, Calo said, was 117 arrests in the first two weeks.

Multiple approaches

"It's every cop's responsibility to address the gang problem," police Chief Gerry Whitman said Thursday of the recent crackdown.

But amid the blue tide of officers, officials also hope to strengthen the social fabric - more jobs, tighter families - to help reduce violence.

"We can't cure this problem at the endgame," Whitman said, "and the endgame is law enforcement."

Paul Danek, a member of the Cole-Whittier Against Crime group, said that any final victory over crime is elusive.

But he said he has noticed an improvement since moving into the neighborhood almost two years ago.

Back then, Danek said, crime was an everyday occurrence, from car break-ins to drug sales.

Now, his sidewalks and street corners have calmed down, especially in the past six months.

"We're seeing more officers, more officers on foot, and it seems there's an increased desire by officers to talk with people," said Danek, 34.

But there was a common complaint from residents during a Cole-Whittier walk-through Thursday - harassment.

Manuel Granallo, a clerk at Golden Gate, said that sport utility vehicles driven by police officers have flooded the neighborhood in the past month.

The 18-year-old said police have stopped him twice, questioning and frisking him for no apparent reason, before letting him go.

"I understand because they're trying to get everybody, but sometimes they're too harassing," Granallo said. "But if it's their job, they have to do it."

A few blocks from Granallo's store, three officers began their routine foot patrol at 2 p.m.

Their one-hour walk provided a snapshot of the community and the ties they hoped to build.

Walking down putrid alleys, the officers eventually nudged their way toward a group of nine men and a woman who were alternately drinking, playing dominoes and fixing a car.

'Violence isn't OK'

"We need help from people like you to let us know what's going on," officer Shalanda Ross said.

One man said, "You can't even hang out in your own neighborhood because the police harass you."

But the officers considered the exchange productive.

"I can guarantee they'll remember all three of us," Ross said.

Outside of police work, the Metro Denver Gang Coalition is banking on outreach and neighborhood development, such as the work they have done traveling to Denver Public Schools basketball games where fights were expected.

Former gang members tell kids, "You belong in this community," said Regina Huerter, executive director of the city's Crime Prevention and Control Commission.

"We want you to be a part of it. But violence isn't OK," Huerter said.

It's the type of message that the mural at Golden Gate Market is meant to convey.

And it might help.

"I'm not sure it will stop totally," Granallo said of the violence. "But they'll think about it."

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News