Greeley – No one thinks a planned juvenile assessment center will immediately solve the city’s gang problem.
But proponents believe the facility one day will play a role in steering some of Greeley’s most troubled youths away from gang life.
“I talk to parents whose kids are already gang members and they tell me they want something better for their kids,” said Jesse Quinby, a Greeley school board member. “And it’s up to us to provide them an alternative to what’s been going on.”
Quinby is among a group of school officials, law enforcement personnel and city officials pushing to open a place where kids with problems can get help. The center would assess what each child needs – including drug and alcohol counseling or tutoring – and provide that assistance.
Proponents are hoping to enlist churches, social service agencies, school districts and private groups into the cause. They foresee the center treating 2,000 children a year on a budget of $319,000.
Most of the funding will come from grants and contributions from local law enforcement agencies and other organizations, say backers.
Already, they have raised about $150,000, said Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, who has pushed the center idea since he took office in November. He sees the center as the best way to tackle a growing trend of juvenile delinquency in a county that is one of the fastest-growing in the country.
“The feds are focused on terrorism and not juvenile crime, and the state has ever-dwindling resources,” Buck said.
“We really can’t build any more jails as a county or state, so we have to concentrate on preventing crime,” he said. “And this (the center) is the avenue we have chosen to take.”
One of the deadliest consequences of the upswing in juvenile crime is gang activity, which is also a big factor in Greeley, Buck said. Greeley was recently targeted by federal officials as one U.S. city where large numbers of gang members have moved in illegally.
The Department of Justice estimates there are 482 known and tracked gang members in Greeley. Police also say that all of Weld County’s six murders last year were gang-related.
“As a county we have to become more progressive in dealing with this problem,” said Weld County Sheriff John Cooke, “and the center is one solution.”
Buck has vowed to open the center on Jan. 1. But first a temporary spot has to be secured before a permanent location will be built in two years.
Supporters are hoping to secure the Norcross House, near Island Grove Park in north Greeley, as a startup facility.
“We’re going to get there,” Buck said. “That’s a fact.”
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
