From staff reports:

The Suburban King County Coordinating Council on Gangs is conducting a public survey to identify the nature and scope of gang activity and youth violence in King County’s suburban communities.

The council has joined the Center for Children and Youth Justice and high-level decision makers from South and East King County to create a coordinated and collaborative response to gang violence. The goal is to create a comprehensive plan that brings together efforts in prevention, intervention, suppression and re-entry.

Answers to the following questions will be sought:

• Do community residents believe a gang problem exists in the community? If so, what is the problem?

• Are there significant differences across groups? What are those differences?

• Do parents believe their children to be involved in gangs or at risk for gang involvement?

• What do the respondent groups think should be done about the gang problem?

• In what ways are the respondent groups willing to respond to the gang problem?

The assessment area identified by the council is geographically defined by school district boundaries and includes Auburn, Bellevue, Federal Way, Highline, Kent, Renton and Tukwila. Because of the size of the assessment area, the council is seeking to work with local newspapers and blogs, as well as existing community groups, such as neighborhood associations and faith-based groups, to facilitate the distribution and completion of the community resident survey.

An online version of the survey is available at www.surveymonkey.com/s/KCGang.