Arlington hopes grant money will curb gangs

ARLINGTON -- The city is hoping a $1 million federal grant will help solve gang crime in a 7-square-mile swath in east Arlington.

Officials applied for the grant after a wave of youth violence that involved at least a dozen shootings and left four teenagers dead from last July to April.

Tonight the school district will hold a public hearing to address the gang problem. The city and the school district will co-host a similar hearing Saturday.

"My honest opinion is the gang problem here is a significant concern," said Arlington school Superintendent Hector Montenegro. "It's not the problem I've seen in urban centers, but it has the potential to escalate."

Montenegro said the city should keep a close watch on the problem and "be more inclusive" with students to defuse it.

"Our focus is on prevention," he said. "Once we have a situation occur, we will be taking a strong stand on enforcement. It also sends a message to our community that we consider this a serious issue."

Montenegro said about 50 students who are also gang members will share their stories at the hearing Saturday.

Admitting membership

The area being targeted has more than 80 of the 222 gang members in the Arlington and Mansfield area. The 222 admitted they were in gangs to Tarrant County Juvenile Services officials in 2006. Of those admitting gang membership, 21 were female, and 12 were 10 years old -- the youngest members county officials encountered.

The target area has more than 30 apartment complexes, a junior high school and four elementary schools, according to the grant application submitted to the federal government in September.

The city thinks it will learn this month whether its application is approved, police officials said.

Much of the information contained in the application comes from 2005 data.

It is difficult to tell whether the impact of gang activity in Arlington has gotten any better or worse since that information was gathered, said Lt. Blake Miller, police spokesman. Gang culture is constantly changing and evolving, and the city must adapt new strategies to deal with those changes, Miller said.

Chief Theron Bowman is scheduled to attend the public hearing Saturday but was unavailable for comment.

On Wednesday, Arlington officers walked around the target area and passed out door hangers encouraging residents to inform police about gang and gun crimes.

"That is the area we are targeting because that's where we need the resources," said Councilwoman Lana Wolff, who represents part of the district being targeted.

If You Go

Public hearing on gangs

Thursday: The public hearing at the school district administration building, 1203 W. Pioneer Parkway, is part of the regular school board meeting that begins at 7 p.m. in the boardroom.

Saturday: Arlington school trustees, administrators, city officials, Police Department officials, community organization leaders, students and parents will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mac Bernd Professional Development Center, 1111 W. Arbrook Blvd., to discuss ways to address the growing gang epidemic. The Community Summit on Gang Intervention Strategies is free and open to the public.

School performance within the target area

About 78 percent of the elementary school children within the proposed target area are considered at risk of dropping out of school, compared with 18 percent of children districtwide.

Almost a third of the students enrolled in elementary schools in the target are considered transient, meaning they don't have stable addresses.

About 90 percent of the children who live in the target area are considered economically disadvantaged.

A significant portion of students who attended schools in the proposed target area -- Hutcheson Junior High and Anderson, Blanton, Johns and Rankin elementary schools -- are performing below grade level, according to results of the 2007 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test.

2007 overall TAKS scores for the targeted schools

Hutcheson Junior High School: 52 percent passing rate

Anderson Elementary School: 64 percent passing rate

Blanton Elementary School: 70 percent passing rate

Johns Elementary School: 54 percent passing rate

Rankin Elementary School: 52 percent passing rate

New school security personnel

Last year, the district hired an additional security officer at each of its six high schools.

It added a gang intervention specialist.

Source: Police Department, school district