Town Hall #: Gangs-Respect by causing fear

article and photo by Janet Monti

Pictured: Rob Fowler from the Ada County Sheriff Department told 700 people Wednesday night that gangs, drugs and weapons go together. If you have one, you have all three.

Town Hall Meeting III brought out about 700 Gem County residents - children and adults alike - who wanted more information on how to keep out gangs and keep in healthy activities. City, county and state officials joined representation from law enforcement across the Treasure Valley to bring an evening of information, fun and food. Guest speaker Rob Fowler from the Ada County Sheriff Department said he was impressed with the number of people who came. Similar events in Ada County brought only a handful of people.

While many may think gangs have not entered this community, Fowler will say otherwise, so will officers from the Emmett Police Department. “Wanna be [gang members] can be more dangerous than real gang members. They feel like they have to impress people,” said Steve Nebeker, EPD detective. In an area where people are not as familiar with the different gangs and their culture, people can easily say they are affiliated with a gang that would not consider them at all. Many of the large, well-known gangs have very specific requirements for inclusion, such as race.

Fowler sees that frequently at the Ada County school where he’s a student resource officer. He comes with a background in this topic, Orange County, CA. There, he was in law enforcement in gang intelligence, specializing in Hispanic and prison gangs. “People in gangs earn respect by fear.” Here in the Treasure Valley, dressing like gangs can create fear in others, which generates respect. Even if the person has no affiliation with the gang they are portraying.

In many cases, gangs mimic relationships that are part of a strong family. They make a person feel important and wanted. There is a certain amount of “grooming,” similar to the way a pedophile “grooms” a child they plan to abuse. “If kids feel part of their community, they are less likely to be part of a gang,” said Fowler. “Parent’s cannot adopt a ‘Not my kid’ syndrome.”

Gangs, drugs and weapons go together. If you have one, you have all three. Video games and music play into this. Studies show that a brain does not completely develop until a person is about 20 or 21 years old. And, other studies indicate children who play lots of video games do not have a frontal lobe that completely matures, the area that deals with reasoning and logical thinking. “They have an emaciated fore-brain. We’re retarding our kids.” Reading books do not do this, they stimulate the brain.

Video games and some musical lyrics “teach our kids to kill.” It’s not the same as when Roadrunner fell off a cliff. Some video games have graphic shooting scenes and the person playing gets points for shooting and beating police officers and women - doing graphic, crude actions. For some games, if you know the correct passwords, it will take to pornography, Fowler added.

Halfway through the evening, a catered dinner was highlighted by students from Emmett High School choirs. Several area service groups gave a short presentation on what they offer children. The hallways were set up with displays from many groups with information on what children can do here in Gem county.

After eating, parents heard about Project 7th Grade, a national program designed to reduce drug use among teens. They work with schools and law enforcement. Those who stayed for this presentation heard about “pharming parties” where teens take parents’ prescription drugs to a party. There, the drugs are all put into a bowl where they take what they want, sort like Chex mix of the 60s. Parents also received a free drug testing kit they could use in the privacy of their home to test their child.

More information on these topics can be found at and .