Drugs, violence and truancy are the top three gang-related problems in Selma.

This was the opinion of the nearly 40 representatives from different sectors of Selma and Fresno County who gathered last week at Selma City Hall in hopes of finding solutions to increased gang crime and violence in local cities.

Selma is home to 350 documented gang members, while Fresno County has a total of 8,000 documented gang members.

Selma kicked off the county's first Gang Prevention Initiative Action Planning Session on Jan. 29, with representatives from schools, city government, law enforcement, businesses and the community at large present. No definitive action was taken at the meeting, which was largely informational.

"This is the first in what will likely be a series of meetings to get us to the end result, which will be the development of a Selma local community action plan that will talk about crime suppression, intervention and prevention programs and activities for our community to reduce gang violence and gang crime," Selma Police Chief Tom Whiteside said.

Currently, there are more than 200 validated gangs in Fresno County and 8,000 documented gang members, according to James Lyman from the Sheriff's Department. This doesn't include undocumented gang members and their associates, which he estimated at about 24,000.

Selma's 350 documented gang members belong to three major gangs: the Surenos, Nortenos and Bulldogs.

The Surenos number at around 100 members and are mostly found in the southwest side of town, in places like Ringo Park and the Vineland Village Apartments, according to Selma Police Officer Perfecto Barbosa. They associate with the color blue, Nebraska Street and the number 13.

Although there are only a few living in the city, Selma has recently seen a slight influx of Nortenos who have moved in to the community after a crackdown on the gang members by nearby cities like Reedley. They associate with the color red and the number 14.

The Bulldog gang is split into two groups, the VSR and the NSS. In Selma, more than 150 VSR members reside mainly in the southwest side of town. Barbosa said they have been responsible for crimes like car theft, assault, drug sales and vandalism.

About 75 NSS members are in Selma and usually found in the north sector of town, Barbosa said. The Bulldog gangs associate with the color red, and images of bulldogs and dog paws.

A high number of major crimes in Selma, including homicide, robbery and grand theft, are attributed to gangs, Barbosa said.

The action planning sessions are being held in hopes of reducing such crimes as well as preventing youth from joining gangs, Whiteside said.

Among the activities at the meeting was discussing what the priority should be when dealing with the gang problem. The five options were law enforcement, community education, after school programs and youth centers, data and evaluation, and education and job training.

Those attending were split into smaller groups and the answers to the question varied. One group said that law enforcement is the biggest priority on an immediate basis, but education and job training is important in the long run.

Another group said that community education was a top priority because parents need to be aware of the symptoms of gangs and what they can do to help prevent their children from joining one. Yet another group said that after school programs are key for keeping the younger kids busy and out of trouble, while education and jobtraining is important for the older kids.

"It's going to be really important to decide where to focus our resources, and what programs to make our top priority," said Debra McKenzie, Fresno County gang task force coordinator.

The other activity of the night was to identify the top three gang problems that exist in Selma. A number of ideas were suggested, including graffiti, intimidation, loitering, drop outs, loss of safety, destroying potential of youth, and cost to taxpayers.

The group eventually decided the major problems were violence, drugs and truancy, all three of which they felt contained within them many of the other suggestions.

"These three things will encompass the things that we will focus on in our action plan," Whiteside said. "We want to do what our citizens and residents in our community find are the most pressing problems."

Selma will hold at least two more action planning sessions before August to further discuss these findings. The next session is tentatively scheduled for March 5, starting at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Over the next six to seven months, other communities within Fresno County will hold similar action planning sessions to discuss ways to combat gang activities.

"We're (Selma) piloting this, we're going to try to be a model for the other communities in Fresno County who will emulate what we're doing here tonight," Whiteside said at the meeting.

There will also be countywide planning sessions, the first of which is scheduled for Feb. 21 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Clovis Veteran's Memorial Building.