A group of concerned community members will be hosting an informal discussion about gangs, youth crime, and violence on Ballard streets on Thursday.

Held at Restaurant Michoacan, local will meet with City and King County representatives as well as North Precinct police members to discuss the issues and share ideas and resources.

"This issue is starting to really affect our neighborhood," said Roberto Lopez, who's organizing this meeting. "After this meeting we'd like to take the ideas and resources and take them to the community to inform them about the issues and the available resources."

Lopez mentioned that youth crime is a hot topic as many of the youth criminals are repeat offenders.

"Youth get reprimanded but they go right back to doing it again. Their minor status protects them and we want to talk about how to deal with that," he said.

The meeting will take place at 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 15, at Restaurant Michoacan, 8311 NW 15th Avenue.