gangs

After Brian Henderson from KATS-FM's Todd & Hendo morning show called out the Yakima Police Department's response to a recent spate of violent crimes, YPD spokesman Mike Bastinelli offered to come on the show and answer some questions. He showed up Wednesday morning -- here's some of that conversation:

Yakima, you need to sit down. It's time for a family meeting. Things are not going very well in our city. Say what you want about elections, but no one has been getting this problem right in Yakima for awhile. A lot of what ails our community can be summed up by this one map made with Google Maps: This map reminded me of a sex offender map many cities provide parents...

It's been a tough week or so concerning continued gang violence in Yakima, and it's got many of us uneasy and a bit scared. Now a new Google Map plots out the turf of some of Yakima's gangs. I know violence can strike anywhere, but some areas of Yakima might be best avoided if you don't need to go that way.

Before I moved to Yakima I heard how violent and nasty it was. Once I moved here I found that it was actually quite pleasant and, with all the rolling hills and trees, more attractive than I had been led to believe. I was also told that the violence has subsided greatly from what it was 15-20 years ago...

As a virtually lifelong resident of Yakima, I'm surprised by the number of locals who have voiced that downtown Yakima is unsafe and residents are afraid to go there.