Force assembled to address gang activity
July 2, 2008 - 9:55PM
By Daisy Martinez, Valley Morning Star
HARLINGEN - A 10-member task force has been formed to address a recent upsurge in gang activity, violence and other crime, Mayor Chris Boswell said Wednesday.

Boswell announced he has appointed the Juvenile Crime, Graffiti and Gang Violence Task Force to assess juvenile and gang violence in Harlingen over the past five years.

The task force will compare these trends and violence to that of other nearby cities and make recommendations to improve law enforcement, education and community efforts to reduce these trends, the mayor said.

"The City Commission will join me in asking the city manager to direct the chief of police to reevaluate the strategies in place to address what appears to be an increase in juvenile crime and gang violence in Harlingen," Boswell said.

Boswell identified three recent violent acts here:

n The June 25 shooting of Police Officer Carlos Diaz at the corner of F Street and West Buchanan Avenue;

n The May 9 fatal stabbing of a 14-year old boy at the same F Street and West Buchanan Avenue location;

n The June 6, 2007, drive-by shooting of a 17-year-old boy, shot in the abdomen near 800 W. Pierce Avenue at F Street.

"We on the City Commission share the community's outrage at these events," Boswell said. "Enough is enough. These three recent incidents are three too many."

Boswell also said that the police department must be held accountable for the actions they take to protect the city and its residents.

In addition to the incidents Boswell cited, a Harlingen teenager, who a police news release stated is believed to have ties to the West Side A gang, was charged with threatening an off-duty police officer on June 27.

Police said Cesar Alejandro Herrera, 17, told the officer "that he was going to do the same thing to him that happened to the officer that got shot," according to a police department news release, referring to the Diaz shooting.

The task force will be chaired by Harlingen school board president George McShan. The co-chairman is Jim Solis, a former state representative.

Other task force members include Police Chief Danny Castillo, Regional Academic Health Center Chief of Police Adam Treviño, Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Gerald Gathright, Rio Grande Boy Scout Council Executive Ernesto Carballo, Loaves & Fishes Executive Director Dean Hall, state District Judge Migdalia Lopez, City Commissioner and former Harlingen police officer Tom Hushen and City Commissioner Larry Galbreath.

Boswell said that gang and juvenile violence is a multi-dimensional problem that needs to be tackled by partnerships of law enforcement officials and all community members.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/p ... force.html