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Home > All News > 2008 News Billboards target gang culture in Salinas Message on Salinas signs 'brutally honest' By SUNITA VIJAYAN • The Salinas Californian • September 19, 2008 Coming to a billboard near you: four thought-provoking scenes aimed at persuading young wayward gang members to leave the road they're on. The billboards are newest campaign by the city of Salinas to fight gangs. One billboard features two panels; in one, an image of a big toe on a body tagged at the morgue next to a college identification card. The message is "Choose your identity." Another billboard features scenes from a funeral and a graduation with the caption, "choose your ceremony." "Part of our game plan is to work on all the different levels such as prevention and ..." said Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue on Thursday. "None of these things are in response to current events; we're rolling out the game plan." The billboards will be erected at these locations: John Street at Spring Street, Market Street at Clark Street, Abbott Street at Romie Lane and Sherwood Drive at Market Street. Donohue said the campaign is a collaboration between the business community and students at Heald College through the city's Community Awareness group's communication committee. The campaign is privately financed by Foxy produce company, he said. Communication committee members Shelly Smith, an instructor at Heald College in Salinas, and Chuck Casella of Salinas-based Casella Creative, came up with the campaign. Smith said she brought in 50 students from criminal justice and business classes to help conceive the idea in March. Because many of her students came from a background of having to make "difficult choices" in their own lives, Smith said that makes the effort and resulting work all the more powerful. Casella said the billboards are focused on raising community awareness and aimed at those submerged in gang activity. "Basically, you can't tell kids not to join the gangs," he said. "The only thing you can do is state the brutal facts." Casella said more billboard and campaign ideas are dependent on fundraising through corporate donations. "It makes people think about it and be aware of it," said Salinas police Cmdr. Trevor Iida, the city's Community Safety Alliance director. "The more people are aware, the more they will want to help change. I don't think the majority of the community understands the gravity of the gang problem."   News Topics | Surenos | Home | Research | History | Blood Gangs | Crip Gangs | People | Gallery | Blog |