Hamilton on quashing gangs
Gangs have obviously been a poblem in most central valley towns. Two years ago we started hosting gang awareness meetings and then put a sales tax iniative on the ballot that was passed by almost 75%. we have used those monies to increase both our police force and fire dept. Our approach to gangs is threefold, prevention, suppression and education. Our police force is active in a county wide effort to suppress gang activities, but we also go to the neighborhoods of Porterville and ask for support from churches and individuals to identify the needs of the youth so that their attention may be put into more positive activities. This council supported fanancially the upstart of a boys and girls club for just this reason. As we learn more about what moves our youth toward gangs we will be very active in combating thier recruitment of our young. We also recognized that education and the ability to communicate and read was very important, so through our sales tax measure we fund literacy programs at our city library.