Re: Follow-up Discussion on County’s Gang Prevention Initiatives
Tim then introduced Bill Neiberding, Police Officer for the City of Rockville, who had agreed to take part in the follow-up discussion on gang prevention. Bill said that he has responsibility for tracking gangs in Rockville and it is very frustrating work. Youth, ages 12 to 18, are constantly changing. They change their names; they change their schools; they are always moving on. Thanks to the movies, youth want to call themselves a name and wear clothing that will intimidate. Bill has learned that this desire to frighten people grows out of a general insecurity. Young kids will also do a lot of graffiti, which is very difficult to investigate.
The Montgomery County Police have a gang unit. Originally, the police department had to justify this unit’s existence. They looked for every police report that might possibly be gang-related. The County Council did not want to acknowledge the presence of gangs. Rockville is in a similar situation. Last summer, a young girl who was a resident of Rockville was killed outside Sherwood High School. The media seizes on incidents like this. They paid a lot of attention to that incident and some others, which helped the Gang Task Force. But the Gang Task Force is still unable to provide hard data. For example, they claim there are a specific number of MS 13 members in the city of Rockville. The truth is these kids come and go. Right now, they can’t be located. Bill does not like pinpointing numbers because it is confusing. It is impossible to put your finger on anything definitive. In addition many kids will claim some kind of gang affiliation but, in his opinion, this is mostly boasting.
David asked Bill about the existence of specific gangs in Rockville. Bill said that there is a group of kids who call themselves “BP” (Brown Product) at Richard Montgomery High School. Another group, the Lincoln Park Crew, is part of a countywide investigation going on now. Kids writing LPC are middle and high school students. There is a lot of erasing tags or covering tags from other gangs occurring behind the Twinbrook Community Center. There is definitely some gang activity in the city of Rockville.
David asked if gangs are driven by substance abuse. Bill said that is definitely an element. He comes across a lot of “skip parties” where kids are drinking alcohol, specifically hard liquor. This is considered “cool.” He sees this behavior with all kids so it is not just gang related. Michelle Beadle commented that she always thought that drug money was involved with gang activity, much like stories of the Mafia. Bill said that is not really the case. David asked if the city should have a curfew. Bill responded that while a curfew would be helpful, the problem would have to become very severe before it could be implemented.
The City of Rockville Police Department uses all available procedures to discourage criminal activity. Their rule is to “stop, identify, and charge accordingly;” and then turn the person over to the legal system. As a result the Rockville Police are successful at keeping many criminals outside of Rockville.
David asked what the average citizen could do to help. Bill responded that each person should be vigilant and use their best judgment. When you see some type of unusual activity, keep a notepad handy and write down notes, e.g., when you see people coming and going at a neighbor’s house, write down the number of people, the times it is occurring, etc. Eric Wang asked if the City has enough resources. When Chief Treschuk spoke to the Commission, he had said there wasn’t a gang problem in Rockville. Eric is aware that Congressman Van Hollen’s office had funds available for gang prevention. Bill responded that every year the Police Department applies for grants. The Chief has to pick and choose what he applies for. Generally the Police Department feels they are under funded but the Chief has been very supportive and continuously works to access additional resources.
Tim asked what the Commission could do to support Bill’s work. Bill responded that some type of program would be a great idea. The hardest part is to identify the kids that really need help. The child and parents frequently deny that there is a problem so how do you involve a child in some type of preventive activity. Often it is too late; the child is already involved in criminal activity. Michelle asked if this is an issue primarily related to boys. Bill said it is mostly boys although there are some girls involved in gang activity. Michelle also asked for a definition of a gang. Bill said he uses the usual definition—a group of three or more individuals who are identifying themselves with a name and are involved in criminal activity.
Tim asked if the City has any cameras available to help prevent criminal activity. Bill said that there are surveillance cameras on the Unity Park Bridge and some City-owned properties. He is not sure the City would be allowed to put cameras in other places. It is also very expensive.
In closing, Bill said he would be interested to see what ideas/programs the Commission comes up with and offered his support.
Tim suggested that Commission members process the information from tonight’s meeting as well as their last meeting with Luis Cardona and discuss their ideas at the next meeting. Mary Lou Jacobs said that their ideas could be part of the needs assessment currently underway within the newly formed Community Services Division.
Re: Approve May 9, 2006 Meeting Minutes
David L'Heureux moved that the minutes be approved as recorded. Agnes Saenz seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Re: Committee Reports
Tim said the Committee on Affordable Housing was not ready with a report;
David said the Committee on Residents with Disabilities also was not ready with a report.
Agnes said that the Committee on Gang Prevention had prepared a report based on a survey they had undertaken through the Latino Outreach Program at Community Ministries of Rockville.
The survey had been distributed to both staff and some of the children at Latino Outreach. Eric, who is also a member of the Gang Prevention Committee, said he had tried to obtain similar information from the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center but was told by the volunteer answering the phone that they were not able to respond to a survey. He also went to Julius West Middle School and was told that the school is not aware of any Asian gang-related activity. Eric is of the opinion that most Asian parents send their children to after-school activities. There are also 18 Sunday Chinese language schools in the county.
Tim asked members to review the report from the Committee on Gang Prevention for next month’s discussion.
David said he would like to briefly report on an earlier Commission subcommittee on Health Care for Uninsured and Underinsured Residents. He said that Adventist Health Care has partnered with Mobile Medical Care and will contribute over $1 million to fund a new MobileMed facility effective July 1, 2006. The new site would be located for 2½ days in Shady Grove Adventist Hospital and 2½ days at Washington Adventist Hospital. He asked Agnes if CMR’s Mansfield Kaseman Health Program could be part of this new partnership. Agnes said she was aware of the plans but unable to talk about them at this point. She thought it was possible that they could be interested in the Crusader Lutheran site. Mary Lou asked if it would be helpful to have the Commission send a letter of support to the CEO. Agnes said she would discuss this with Bob Spector at a meeting next week. David volunteered to write a draft letter of support.
Re: Update on Reorganization of Community Services Department
Mary Lou said that most of the interviewing occurred about two weeks ago. Sarah Gicale had applied and been hired for the Program Analyst position. There is also a Referral Coordinator Position which will be responsible for intake and screening for REAP and be very involved in distributing resource material. Alfred Thompson was hired for this position. He has worked for the City for many years. He is very interested in helping people find affordable housing and, most recently, started offering money management courses. The fourth position of Program Coordinator is probably the most important position as relates to the program model. This is a new position. Three staff applied; all three withdrew their applications. The position is now being advertised externally. Mary Lou is hopeful that the person hired will be bilingual and have experience with both school and community settings. Finally, the RISE Program is being continued through this summer.
With respect to those staff being laid off, the City Manager decided to liberalize the City’s policy. People have one month’s administrative leave; then they have the option of taking all accrued leave in a lump sum or letting it run out. If they choose the latter, they will still be considered as part of the payroll and be covered by health insurance. In addition it was decided to give these employees an additional two months of COBRA.
Last week the process for developing a work plan was started. Two planning retreats have now been held. Mary Lou was impressed with the positive spirit of staff. Chris Henry was present at both. Burt joined the group at the second sessions. They are now in the process of writing up a work plan. The goal is to have the needs assessment completed by early fall.
One change is how counseling will be provided. Meetings were held with Guide and the YMCA. It took several reminder calls to get any cost information. In both cases figures were much higher than anticipated. They are now looking at creating a counselor position. The City’s budget, when approved last week, included that position. They need to provide counseling to thirty youth. Both employees who had been doing counseling were informed of the position.
Re: Updates from the Chair
Board vacancies: Tim said that Karen Lechter withdrew her application. Agnes offered to put the consumer vacancy on the agenda of the Caregivers meeting tomorrow. Eric reminded the Chair that his term expires July 1, 2006.
Salute to Non Profits: Tim announced that the Chamber is still interested in a second annual event. The Salute is scheduled for September 30th from Noon to 6 p.m. in connection with the Chili Cook-off in front of the Red Brick Courthouse. Tim would like one or more persons to help out by serving on the committee. This would entail approximately one meeting per month. Sarah Duffy volunteered to help. Agnes said she would recruit some Caregiver volunteers to serve on the committee. Tim said that the feedback from last year was that the non-profits would like to solicit donations in addition to volunteers.
Annual Report: Tim said that Claire Funkhouser, the City Clerk, has requested a report from each commission by July 14th. It should take the form of a short list of goals for next year and accomplishments for this year. Tim’s thought is to do the Commission’s Annual Report at the same time. He asked that Mary Lou put together a list of accomplishments from the past year and email it to him.
Re: Plan Agenda for Next Meeting (July 11)
Adjourn
David moved that the meeting be adjourned. Tom Lawrey seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m. The next meeting of the Human Services Advisory Commission will held Tuesday, July 11, 2006, at 7:30 p.m. in the Glenview Mansion Dining Room.
