As local high school students start summer vacation this Thursday, the Gainesville Police Department is bracing itself for a potential increase in juvenile crime.
Police are taking notice of the tension building among rival neighborhoods in east Gainesville after about 35 teenagers were found fighting at the Northeast Pool near Waldo Road two weeks ago.
The department is looking for ways to keep juvenile crime and gang involvement from increasing during months when school is out of session.
July, August and September were peak months in 2006 for crime committed by residents under 18, according to data compiled by the State Attorney's Office.
GPD Capt. Lonnie Scott said one way to combat juvenile crime is to address violence among local gangs in east Gainesville.
Police are investigating the involvement of two rival groups, the Northeast 15th Street and the Northeast 8th Avenue gangs, in the Waldo Road fight.
"It's all about territory," Scott said. "It's kids' stuff handled with adult violence."
Police officers are planning summer events that they hope will unite the community against heated, growing rivalries.
The first event, "Operation Respect Yourself," was held Saturday at the Northeast Pool.
The aim of the program was to teach conflict resolution skills that emphasize walking away from fights and having self-respect before respect for a gang or neighborhood, Scott said.
Orlando Alvarez, a GPD juvenile resource detective, said he views the spread of national gangs within Gainesville as a problem that needs to be addresssed along with the establishment of local gangs.
The Crips, the Bloods, the Latin Kings and the Gangster Disciples are all showing a growing presence in east Gainesville, Alvarez said, though they are nowhere near as dominant as they are in larger cities.
Detective James McCollum, who also specializes in juvenile crime, said the city of Gainesville cannot afford to ignore the increasing membership.
"Gainesville looks quiet and small when you're coming from Miami," McCollum said. "But we still need to be careful or this issue will sneak up on us."
John Alexander, who helps operate the Reichert House, an after-school program for at-risk youth in east Gainesville, spoke at the event about his experiences growing up in Gainesville and trying to avoid the entrenched neighborhood groups.
"When you don't get a sense of who you are from your parents because they're not around, you look to your neighborhood for your identity," Alexander said in an interview after the event.
He said young people risk so much to defend their neighborhood pride because they are struggling with an idenity crisis and because there are few positive activities for them to partake in.
"We've got to provide things to do or else kids will find 'extracurricular activities' on the streets," he said.
