Gang Mentality
Police say Portland, Ore., gang violence is exploding. A landmark report shows just the opposite.
![Clay-Mosher1_s Clay Mosher](https://wpcdn.web.wsu.edu/wp-cas/uploads/sites/648/2014/02/Clay-Mosher1_s.jpg)
Turn on the TV news and you’d have reason to believe gang violence in Portland, Ore., is out of control. Terse warnings from police and fallout from three recent high-profile shootings have prompted alarming reports in the media of a recent surge in gang activity.
But amid the rhetoric and media heat, a far more complicated picture emerges when the numbers are examined.
Clay Mosher, a professor of sociology at WSU-Vancouver and author of a gang assessment for Clark County law enforcement in 2012, says various agencies label gang-related crime differently—and often liberally. “Most crimes committed by gang members are not committed for the gang. But they can get coded as a gang-related crime,” Mosher said.