The key to dealing with youth gangs and youth violence is “a caring and cooperative community,” a nationally-acclaimed youth worker emphasized in three days of presentations to adults and students in the LCO and Hayward communities.

“It’s okay to have zero tolerance enforcement. But you must be firm and fair in the delivery of that,” Steve Nawojczyk added. “The entire community must work together. You all have a role to play.

“You must combine suppression and enforcement with intervention and prevention. You tell that small percentage of people who are bad, ‘We’re not going to take this.’ It takes a united front.

“You also need to work on those who are on the periphery, who could go in a different direction if somebody offered it. You need to offer a safety net.”

Nawojczyk was invited to the area by the LCO Tribe to assist the tribe in creating a gang and youth violence prevention and intervention plan.

A former coroner, ambulance service and crime lab director in Little Rock, Arkansas, Nawojczyk showed graphic videos of the deadly impact that youth violence and gangs have on children and communities.

His work with gangs was featured in the award-winning HBO “America Undercover” documentary ‘Gang War: Bangin’ in Little Rock.’

“All across the U.S., the homicide rate for people under the age of 17 increased dramatically” over the past 20 years, he said. “Almost always when a young person is killed in this country, it’s by another young person.”

Dealing in illegal drugs is “the stock in trade” of gangs, as well as the crimes of theft, carjacking and drive-by and walk-up shootings, he added. “Bullets don’t have names on them.”

“For 20 years, I investigated deaths,” Nawojczyk said. “I wanted to learn more about why young people were so willing to pick up guns to resolve conflicts and why they were joining nontraditional groups on the streets.”

“We tell (kids) that this is not like on TV. This is real,” said Sgt. Bill Morrow of the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Department. “Somebody dies, and that’s it. There’s no bringing them back, no saying ‘We’re sorry.’ That’s it. I’m a big proponent of showing these kids and people what’s going on.

“Police and EMS see the worst of it,” Morrow said. “We see people when they’re bad. We don’t see (dead) people in the casket after they’re all cleaned up. We tell people, ‘This is what it’s about. You’ve got to try to stop this, open up your eyes’.”

Gang selling point

“One of the strong selling points of street gangs is that they accept kids no matter who they are or what their background,” Nawojczyk said. He said his definition of a gang is “when two or more people come together to the exclusion of others for anti-social reasons. No community is immune from this problem.

“Many children who get involved in gang activities come from the ‘Five H’ Club: Homeless, hungry, helpless, hopeless and hug-less,” he added.

“Kids get involved in gangs for identity, recognition, belonging, discipline, and respect. If you’re going to compete with gangs, you have to offer those same things in a positive way,” Nawojczyk said.

Identity, discipline, love and respect “are right here on this reservation. You have a strong, proud heritage,” he added.

“Because young people want to belong to something, they may gravitate toward gangs, not understanding that they’re in probable peril,” he said. “Gang leaders say they will be your family. They will be there for you as long as you give back toward that gang. But when you go to jail or something happens to you, they don’t care,” he said.

He said that parents and adults should watch for signs that children might be involved in a gang or are depressed, such as a change in peer group, including a sudden desire for secrecy; a sudden drop in grades; loss of interest in previous favorite things; giving away belongings; appearance of money or goods that can’t be accounted for; appearance of strange drawings; cryptic writings and hand signals; and obsessing on methods of death and dying. They also could be signs of drug addiction.

He urged parents to “know what’s going on in your kids’ lives and check up on them.”

He said that bullying must not be tolerated and needs to be dealt with in the school environment.

Nawojczyk maintains a web site at www.GangWar.com.

Coordination key

“Right now, we have the Boys and Girls Club, which is doing a wonderful job,” said LCO Planning assistant Leslie Isham. “But we need more parent and community involvement.

“With the information we’ve got here, we’re looking to get the community involved,” said Morrow, who is the LCO Law Enforcement Agency coordinator.

“These officers want to get out and do a lot of community policing, get in with these people and know them and work with them, use some discretion,” Morrow said. “Like Steve says–-compete with them (gangs). We can do that.

“It will be a big change for us, and a big change for the county,” Morrow added. “It’s a win-win situation for everybody.”

He said departments from the various jurisdictions “got to know what’s going on in the different areas and know who’s coming and going. Since this is a small area, we know them all,” Morrow added.

Any gang graffiti discovered in the local area, such as on street signs or pavement, is photographed and then removed or painted over, Morrow indicated.

Nawojczyk said a community action plan should include after-school programs, community-oriented police, teams for parents, in-school programs, one-on-one activities and neighborhood action groups.

He said he was “impressed” with the learning taking place at the LCO Boys and Girls Club, and said it could be expanded. “Include youths in everything when you are planning,” possibly through having a youth council, he urged.

Contributing sponsors for Nawojczyk’s visit included the LCO Tribal Governing Board, LCO Planning, LCO Family Preservation, LCO Community College Extension, LCO K-12 Schools, Hayward Community Schools, Sawyer County Health and Human Services, and the Boys and Girls Club of Lac Courte Oreilles.