Stop Gangs in Town? Let's Start With Graffiti

This past weekend's has the community on edge and frustrated.

Could the shooting have been prevented? Maybe.

Hindsight is 20/20, but a stroll through the area of the reported shooting on Olivina Avenue will lead to signs where we could have stepped in to try and prevent these turf wars from reaching a boiling point.

Police say an led to Saturday's shooting that wounded two — one of the victims was critically hurt but now remains in stable condition.

The victims were found injured at a business lot on Olivina Avenue, near North P Street, anchored by the .

One look across the street from where the incident occurred unveils a fence overwhelmed with gang graffiti.

It appears gang members recently tagged the fence and nearby sidewalks, which was followed up by rival gang members crossing off the graffiti and tagging over it to reclaim the area.

This type of activity isn't anything new. We've seen it before — see column I wrote in January 2011.

In that column I point out a previous graffiti war between the Norteno and Sureno gangs in town as an obvious sign of things heating up between the rival gangs.

Gang-related crime around that time spiked, including reports of a , and an .

Police have said gang activity in town tend to strike in waves. Is Saturday's shooting the start of another wave? Or is the wave settling down after the shooting?

The last major gang-related crime reported was the on Walnut Street. Mayor John Marchand and Police Chief Steve Sweeney then to address the community's concerns.

Now here we are again after another gang shooting asking the same questions and wondering about our safety. What has been accomplished by our city leaders since the Easter Day shooting?

Officials placed a priority in providing the with more officers to . The city council recently approved a budget plan that will . Further details on the city's website.

The hiring of additional officers should help curb gang activity in town. But police can't do it on their own.

We all have to be diligent and active in reporting suspicious activity in our neighborhoods. And that includes graffiti.

Putting an end to gang activity in town will be an uphill and complex battle. It will take a community effort. There are many layers to this issue — forming neighborhood watch groups, helping at-risk students and keeping parents informed of the possible challenges their children may face regarding gangs are a few examples.

We've already seen what can happen if gang graffiti lingers in our neighborhoods. I'm unsure if acting quickly to remove graffiti in town will have an impact. But I do know that it's worth a try.

To report graffiti in town contact the City of Livermore's graffiti hotline at 925-960-8060. You can also use the city's mobile app or submit a report on the city's website.