Parents learn gang prevention

Officers Jimmy Brown and Scott Stafford appeared to be the most popular people at Tuesday night’s “Keep Your Teen Safe” seminar at Costa Mesa High School. The gang-unit officers they offered answers to parents worried about their kids and gangs.

Stafford explained what parents should look for if their kids are getting sucked into gangs.

Some of those tell-tale signs include a change in hair style and clothing, symbols tagged on books and other gang markings from vandalism in the neighborhood. Some of these gangs have been in business for more than 20 years, Stafford said.

The biggest problems for police are tagging and gang fights, Stafford said. But things appear to be better this year.

“It comes in waves,” Stafford said, adding that things have been better than last year.

The addition of School Resource Officers on campus and a beefing up of manpower in the gang unit has helped police get a better handle on gang crimes.

On campus is where the best preventive work can be done, said gang-unit supervisor Paul Beckman, who noted that gang members were all students once. That’s why the campus officers focus on mentoring students before they get in trouble with the law.

“Once they get to us, it’s difficult to change them after that point,” Beckman said.

Parents can make some of the biggest contributions to fighting gangs, Beckman said.

“They can address and recognize at-risk signs, try and be proactive,” Beckman said. “Most of the kids in gangs were looking for acceptance in a family unit.”

Parents need to be honest with their kids and with themselves, not get caught up in the denial of a “not-my-kid” kind of attitude, he added.

Parents and teens at Tuesday’s seminar also heard about how to drive safely and protect themselves against road hazards.

David Sabet, who lost his daughter Gillian two years ago in a fatal car wreck, talked about how the car flipped over on its way to prom when the driver reached down for a pack of gum.

“I’m living someone else’s nightmare,” Sabet said in his video presentation. “In 2005, my daughter became a statistic.”

Faye Hezar brought her daughter because she is taking the exam for her driver’s license next week. Hezar said she learned a lot and will add those to the talking points as she and her daughter come up with driver rules for her.

“I think it’s great to open the conversation,” Hezar said. “You forget that it could happen to your kid.”

The event, which was sponsored by Costa Mesa police and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, drew about 80 some people.

KELLY STRODL may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected]. KELLY STRODL may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].