I don't particularly remember who I voted for in the TCU Senate elections last fall. I wish I did, so I could be sure not to vote for them again. Yesterday's article in the Daily ("Somerville torn between safety, civil rights on gang ordinance," April 4) reported a recent ordinance passed in the city of Somerville which serves to aid the Somerville Police Department in the dismantling of gangs and the prevention of gang-related activities. Specifically, the ordinance is meant to target the Mara-Salvatrucha gang, commonly known as MS-13. MS-13 reached its greatest level of infamy in the Tufts community two years ago, when members of the gang were responsible for the rapes of two deaf girls in a Somerville park. Since that time, the gang has continued to grow, both locally and nationally.
As a student of Tufts, I would expect the Senate that I elected to have the interests of the student body at heart, and therefore support the ordinance, one which will help ensure that life on the Medford/Somerville campus remains as safe and worry-free as possible. You can imagine my surprise then, when I learned that the TCU Senate had passed a resolution calling for the repeal of the ordinance.
Instead of an ordinance that would give police greater powers to disperse gang members loitering in selected trouble zones and helping to staunch what would clearly be the catalyst to potentially violent and illegal situations, the Senate, along with the Tufts chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union advocates the happily named Project HEAL.
According to the Daily article, Project HEAL, an effort championed by Welcome Foundation leader Nelson Salazar (who, by the way, claims that the only reason Somerville police are paying attention to MS-13 is because the two deaf girls who were raped were white - a rather cynical view for someone preaching hope and positive reinforcement) aims to "[fund] after-school programs, to get alternatives to gangs," and thereby "address the root of the problem."
Unfortunately, I don't think current MS-13 members plan on joining the chess club anytime soon. Recent reports on the gang in Newsweek detailed the vicious nature of the Maras Salvatruchas. According to those articles, gang members are required to attack members of rival gangs on site or face severe beatings, which are given in 13-second intervals.
Some of the more vicious acts perpetrated by the gang in the past couple of years include dismemberment of civilians with machetes in Alexandria, Va., the stabbing and near-decapitation of a woman near the Shenandoah River, and a bus shooting that killed over 20 people in El Salvador (where the gang has grown due to deportations by the U.S. government of indicted and convicted MS-13 members, many of whom are illegal immigrants). Newsweek also outlined how, despite its prevalence across the nation (it has outposts in over 33 states), the gang has been in a fragmented state, with no clear leadership or central group.
That trend is changing, however. There have been recent attempts to consolidate the power base of MS-13, and many signs indicate progression to the formation of what would be an almost Italian Mafia-like structure across the country. Newsweek reported that there "may be increasing its coordination with MS-13 chapters in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia, and New York City, possibly signaling an attempt to build a national command structure."
The relevance of all this information on MS-13 is that it is not a gang that will simply fizzle and disappear when the neighborhood kids see better recreational alternatives. Furthermore, Project HEAL, which the TCU Senate, the ACLU, and Mr. Salazar are hailing as the solution to Somerville's gang problem, contains no provisions at all for dealing with or even containing current gang members.
Of course, there is a value in increased community involvement with children from less fortunate families, who might be prone to gang recruitment if not otherwise engaged. However, such an endeavor can only be effective when combined with efficient policies of enforcement and containment to reduce current gang membership and put those members who cannot be reformed behind bars.
How can we as Tufts students help effect this change and create a safer environment here on campus? We can start by using our electoral power to send a message to the TCU Senate. If you care about your safety, and the safety of your friends and peers, vote to remove the incumbents in the Senatorial elections this Wednesday, and put a new face on the Senate. A face that cares more about your safety and less about keeping MS-13 on a street corner near you.
Jonah Peppiatt is a freshman who has not yet declared a major.
