Carson City Soapbox
Word about the gang issues in Salinas and the city’s efforts to confront organized crime has spread to Carson City, Nev., where I was invited to speak recently at a Gang Symposium.
Sponsored by the Carson City Chamber of Commerce, the symposium included a discussion about Salinas’ innovative solutions, including the police department’s collaboration with Naval Postgraduate School terrorism experts, which particularly caught the attention of the symposium’s participants.
One of the things I told their well-attended symposium is the importance of having a clear community goal. The course of action and required resources will vary depending upon the goal. I explained one of the most valuable things I believe the Naval Postgraduate School will do for Salinas is help us to recognize that our goal is a “Complete Win,” ultimately wiping out the gang culture that pervades our streets, out schools and residents, young and old.
As best I could tell, Carson City is a similar point that Salinas was in the late 1980s. It is clear something is happening and changing in their community. Their chamber has decided to become pro-active because of concerns about quality of life and potential economic impact on local business. The chamber noted it was concerned about the potential impacts of three nearby prison facilities, the rise of drug trafficking, increased local gang membership, and increasing involvement by juveniles.
I applauded the chamber for their foresight and told them that one of the things that does in fact accompany gang problems is the corrosion suffered by the community. Beyond the media-catching homicides, the corrosion is felt by the community in the form of burglary, prostitution, identity theft, decline in property values, changes in shopping patterns as seen in flight of consumers to neighboring cities, and a general fear in the neighborhoods. And, in those neighboring cities, people have shown their fear of coming to Salinas. That’s bad for business and the community.
When I left Carson City, I hoped that that city would be spared the decades of violence Salinas has endured. Carson City’s leaders can choose now to take the “Complete Win” approach or, if their police force stays in a reactive mode, they can look forward to what we have seen over several decades: some near-term success, many failures, and certainly no “Complete Win”.
Salinas does not have the ability to roll back the clock, but if we pass Measure K, we will have the resources to “reset” the future and pursue a “Complete Win” which is achievable if we all come together and vote Yes on K so that Salinas will again become a peaceful city.
A complete win strategy sets Salinas on a course for peace. To achieve that, I am personally convinced of three things. We have the right Police Chief, the right long-term plan to increase the size of the police force and implement a new neighborhood vision of policing that unites the community, and that we will get the right result – a peaceful community that attracts new investment, creates jobs and secures our future prosperity.