COSTA MESA : Parent Group Fights Spread of Gangs

It began in May as a stare-down between two girls. Within weeks, two groups of girls began “mad dogging” each other until a fistfight finally erupted.

Costa Mesa High School officials contacted the parents of more than a dozen girls involved in the fight. The parents said they were astonished by their children’s behavior.

“I couldn’t believe my daughter was mad dogging someone else,” said Herman Byfield, 36, “We don’t need our kids growing up to be (gang members).”

Many of the parents sought the advice of gang counselor Roy Alvarado, 58, who works for Newport-Mesa Unified School District. He advised them to form a group and meet as much as possible. About two dozen parents got together and called themselves PAZ ( Padres Y Alumnos Zafandose --Parents and Students Excused).

PAZ is another tool the school district is using to fight the spread of gang warfare in Costa Mesa. (In Spanish paz means “peace.”)

Alvarado, who also counsels recovering drug addicts for a drug outreach program, said the city’s gang problem is small now but will grow rapidly unless preventive actions similar to the formation of PAZ are taken. He said the gang fights and shootings this summer will only get worse.

“We can’t just be like an ostrich and put our heads in the sand,” Alvarado said. “We need programs with teeth for the city.”

Alvarado said direct intervention by parents with their children is the best way to stop gangs from forming.

“Some people want the police to intervene on problems like these,” he said. “But gang suppression by the police has never worked. There are still gangs out there.”

In one of its first actions, PAZ asked district Supt. Mac Bernd for permission to enter the Costa Mesa High School campus during school hours. Bernd consented, saying he thought it was a good idea for parents to be visible on campus.

PAZ generally holds its meetings meets every two weeks at Tewinkle Memorial Park.

Melina Herrera, 13, one of the girls involved in the group with her parents, said, “I enjoy the meetings because at least we are talking about our problems now.” Her mother, Leonardo Byfield, 32, agrees. She said she will do anything to ensure that her daughter does not become involved in gangs.

“I come to these meetings because I want my children to be safe to go to school,” she said. “That’s why she goes to school.”