The Suburban King County Coordinating Council on Gangs (“the Council”) is a unique partnership between the Center for Children and Youth Justice and high-level decision makers from across South and East King County that is focused on creating a coordinated and collaborative response to gang violence.

The goal of the Council is to create a comprehensive plan that brings together efforts in prevention, intervention, suppression and re-entry. The planning process begins with, and is driven by, a thorough community assessment designed to identify the nature and scope of gang activity and youth violence in King County’s suburban communities.

COMMUNITY RESIDENT SURVEY

No picture of a community’s gang crime problem is complete without the views of community residents. A planned survey will give respondents an opportunity to share their own experience or beliefs about gangs and gang activity in their community. Answers to the following questions will be sought:

- Do community residents believe a gang problem exists in the community? If so, what is the problem?
- Are there significant differences across groups? What are those differences?
- Do parents believe their children to be involved in gangs or at risk for gang involvement?
- What do the respondent groups think should be done about the gang problem?
- In what ways are the respondent groups willing to respond to the gang problem?
The primary reason for gathering this type of information is to determine how community members view gang activity and how they think gangs affect the community.

Analysis of survey information will make it easier to identify community perceptions regarding: (1) the problems that gangs present; (2) the reasons that gang activity exists; and (3) what community residents think should be done about gangs and gang activity. This information will ultimately guide prevention planning and strategy development in the community.

LOGISTICS

The assessment area identified by the Council is geographically defined by school district boundaries and includes the following school districts: Auburn, Bellevue, Federal Way, Highline, Kent, Renton, and Tukwila.

Because of the size of the assessment area, the Council is seeking to work with local newspapers and blogs, as well as existing community groups, such as neighborhood associations and faith-based groups, to facilitate the distribution and completion of the community resident survey.

An online version of the survey is available at www.surveymonkey.com/s/KCGang.

For any further questions or to request a hard copy of the survey, please do not hesitate to contact Dan Carew at the Center for Children & Youth Justice. He can be reached at dcarew@ccyj.org, or 206-696-7503 ext. 14.