By: Lauralee Budd

"CG 13" stood out in bold black letters against the beige building. The tag was only four days old. Provo residents and BYU students didn't stop to look as they walked into Fat Cats bowling alley.

"We never used to get this [graffiti]," said Bonnie Jones, a manager at Fat Cats for 20 years. "It's the first time they've hit our building. We don't want to see it happen here like California."

Jones said the police officer from Provo High School easily recognized the tag as one of the Hispanic gangs in the area and said graffiti has been a problem lately.

Gang activity in Utah County - where an estimated 70 percent of gangs are Hispanic - has increased over the past seven to eight months and has caught the attention of local law enforcement and school administrators.

"The tagging is really what increased ... and drew the attention of different police departments," said Darcy Simmons of the Utah County Major Crimes Task Force, who estimated a greater then 100 percent increase in graffiti this year.

Simmons said the boost in graffiti could indicate a rise in other gang-related activities like drug use and crime. There is also evidence that gang-on-gang violence is on the rise. In April, a 19-year-old man used brass knuckles with miniature saw blades attached to beat up a 14-year-old Provo boy. In the past year, there have been five instances similar to this one that can be attributed to gangs, Simmons said.

Nine months ago the task force increased efforts to crack down on gangs. Because of the new focus, Simmons said, police officers could more easily identify gang crimes.

Utah County gangs including Provo Varrio Locos, Raza Jalisco Criminales, and Alley Boy Gangsters are heavily influenced by the Sureños (Southerners), a Hispanic gang from the L.A. area. These gangs use the colors blue and black and the number 13 as symbols.

Law enforcement says Provo Varrio Locos and Raza Jalisco Criminales are the largest and most prominent gangs. Some gangs may have many members with only eight to 10 actively carrying out gang activities. The average age is 15 to 21 years old, but members as old as 40 have been documented.

Often gangs look for junior-high-school-aged kids to join because they are more impressionable and willing to be loyal. Also juveniles are not punished as severely for crimes as adults. School administrators say junior high schools currently have the most gang members. Some high schools have seen an increase in gang activity among freshmen and sophomores. But it is mostly gang culture that is prevalent.

"I haven't really seen an increase [in this] ... gang thing going on at the school," said Chet Whatcott, a resource officer at Independence High School. "What I am seeing a little bit more of is that the lifestyles of these gangsters and rappers are emulated. [Gang] lifestyle is getting so popular. It's okay to dress that way and do the things that you do because society is starting to say it's OK."

Assistant principal Jose Enriquez of Provo High School agrees.

Enriquez said the school sponsored a gang prevention meeting with students thought to be involved in the beginnings of gang-related activities. He said there are only about 10 to 15 students who are actually in gangs, and the rest are only affiliated with the lifestyle.

Enriquez, fellow administers and law enforcement officials agree that certain media - like Al-Capone- type movies, rap music and MTV - glorify the gangster lifestyle and contribute to gang culture among teenagers.

While any teenager could become involved with a gang, Hispanic teenagers are most likely to participate in gang activity. Enriquez said likely contributors to Hispanic gang involvement are the achievement gap, the difference in cultures, a lack of information about opportunities and those who are second-and-third-generations citizens.

Enriquez said both the achievement gap and accompanying gang involvement are problems that won't go away until the community, BYU and legislatures collaborate to find a solution.

Many teens find it hard to balance academics and extracurricular activities. For some Hispanics it is especially hard because after-school activities didn't exist in the countries they originated from.

"It's a tough dichotomy," Enriquez said. "These kids think: 'Should I shun the academics and keep my friends or should I shun my friends and keep the academics?' They think they have to do one or the other. It is such a battle in their heads that most people don't have to go through."

Not all Hispanics experience this dichotomy and if they do, many are choosing to continue their education and plan to attend college. Roughly half of all Hispanics at Provo High plan to attend college. But the violence of Hispanic gangs tarnishes the achievement of other Hispanics and stereotypes are perpetuated.

"The sad thing is it's the smaller percentage of the Latino population, but it's the thing that screams out to people," Enriquez said.

Jose Gutierrez, from Mexico, arrived in the United States six years ago. He and his Hispanic friends played soccer together frequently. They were who he grew up with, but when his friends started wearing baggy clothes and stopped going to class, things changed.

"They expect[ed] me to do things I don't want to do," Gutierrez said.

He chose a different path.

Currently Gutierrez plays the trombone in the band and says he "heard rumors about [gangs] coming over from California and spreading over here."

Educators and law enforcement say the best way to stop gang violence is to prevent it.

Ways you can contribute to gang prevention in Utah County:

* Join the big brothers, big sisters - access and impact - programs through the Center for Service and Learning at BYU. Their phone number is 422-8686. * Participate in the 4-H Youth and Families with Promise Program through the Center for Service and Learning. * Volunteer to go to the youth detention center weekly through the Center for Service and Leaning. * Go to Provo High School and talk with the administrators or volunteer to tutor. * Plan projects with your FHE group to serve the Hispanic community of Provo.

Copyright Brigham Young University 8 Jan 2007