State lawmakers consider new laws to curb gang violence

EVERETT — Just a day before 17-year-old Antonio Marks was stabbed and beaten to death on the streets of a rural town in the Cascade foothills, Snohomish County Sheriff's deputy Bud McCurry had spoken to the teen.

As a member of the sheriff office's gang unit, McCurry often chats with young people who are involved or associated with gang activity. Through his patrols, he knew Marks and remembers him as a polite boy.

He also knew the teens who killed Marks: They were all members of the Brown Pride Gang in Sultan.

"I'll never forget that. We were just talking to (Marks) ... now he's dead," McCurry said. "All we can do is make our presence known."

As gangs spread around the state, state legislators have tried to curb their growth by writing new laws and rules. In this year's short legislative session, a handful of proposals have survived.

Gangs have reached small towns such as Sultan, are reappearing in Skagit County and running rampant in rural outposts like Outlook, Yakima County, police say. In Central Washington, established gangs have evolved, maturing into organized criminal enterprises, dealing in drugs and guns, and all the while entrenched urban gangs in the Seattle-Tacoma area maintain their presence, officials said.

Rep. Norm Johnson, R-Yakima, is a co-sponsor of one of the most sweeping proposals, which would allow restraining orders, preliminary injunctions and abatement orders in a gang nuisance action. The bill also classifies gang activity as a nuisance, which allows residents within a one-block radius to file complaints. The measure is now being considered in the Senate.

Hurst said the bill would give local governments tools they can use at their discretion, and credits similar laws passed in California with reducing crime rates.

Concerns about the power of that bill have been raised by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which argues that the measure, as written, circumvents due process, and that existing laws can be used to combat gangs.

The bill "actually interferes with gang intervention," said Shankar Narayan, the ACLU's Legislative Director. "These kinds of gang laws, push gang members into fringes of society."

Ideas that are apparently dead for the year include allowing law-enforcement officers to seize property of gang members and sell it to pay for enforcement, stiffer penalties for gang intimidation and graffiti tagging, and creating school safety zones to allow schools to exclude suspected gang members.

In Lynnwood, Marks' mother, Angelina Reyes, can't fight tears as she talks about her dead son.

Marks had become involved with the sister of a rival gang member, Reyes said. The relationship led to his death when he was beaten near Sultan's City Hall.

"I don't really know what happened," Reyes said. "... There's a lot of peer pressure out there. There's got to be more programs, more awareness of these gangs."