Published: June 29, 2008 12:28 am         

Tackling gang graffiti a priority

One of Greg Grostefon’s first orders of business as principal of Columbia Middle School will be addressing the school’s gang graffiti problems.

Grostefon will attend the National Gang Crime Research Center’s 2008 11th International Gang Specialist Training Program from Aug. 6-8 in Chicago, and he hopes to bring back information about gangs to share with the public.

“We do have students in our school affiliated with gangs in certain ways, more or less to show off,” he said. “I don’t want to make it sound like a huge deal, but it needs to be addressed.”

He said most of the problems included students writing graffiti in the bathrooms.

“I want it gone from CMS and I think we’ll be able to do it,” he said.

In January, Logansport detective Rob Smith said most of the graffiti in Logansport was done by middle school-aged kids

“Any time we catch anyone defacing property, we invoke the discipline code,” Grostefon said.

Grostefon said he was also concerned with gang-related clothing. He said he believes students are just copying what they see in the media.

“For them, it’s a cool thing to do,” he said.

The school’s dress code bars students from wearing “... apparel, jewelry, make-up accessory, notebook, or manner of grooming which, by virtue of its color arrangement trademark or any other attribute denoting membership in a gang. ...”

At the conference, Grostefon will network with law enforcement, corrections and private sector professionals from across the country and abroad.

In the fall, Grostefon said he wants to bring his knowledge to a public forum for both Columbia and Lincoln middle schools. He said he wants to bring a speaker in and also have the Logansport Police Department there.

“We want to educate the public as much as we can about youth gangs,” he said. “We want to let them know what’s out there.”

Melissa Soria may be reached at (574) 732-5143 or via e-mail at melissa.soria@pharostribune.com