TOPPENISH -- With a table full of police-confiscated BB guns and knives wrapped in plastic bags lying in front them, Toppenish City Council members caught a glimpse Monday of the risks officers face when pursuing gangs. It's a risk council members are hoping to reduce as they hash out the possibility of adopting an anti-gang ordinance similar to the ones passed recently in Sunnyside and Union Gap. To better understand gangs and their impact on the community, Toppenish council members held a study session Monday night to discuss the issue.

The study session was sponsored by the Toppenish Police Department, which says there are 253 documented gang members in the city. The meeting was attended by more than a dozen concerned residents, including Joyce Monjaraz-Weston and her husband, Jeff Weston. Monjaraz-Weston, 47, said she and Weston attended the meeting after work to learn where the council stands on the gang problem, which, she said, has haunted her neighborhood for at least five years with drive-by shootings and tagging.

It's an environment that she and city leaders don't want her grandchildren to see. "Something needs to be done," Councilman Loren Belton said during the meeting. "(But) we have to take baby steps.

" Belton said he worries that an anti-gang ordinance might not work if there isn't cooperation from the court system. He said the law won't be effective if gang members are immediately released from jails, as they often are under the current system. Yakima County Prosecutor Ron Zirkle, who attended the meeting, said it's an issue that only state and federal governments can address.

Most offenders, he said, can be sentenced to only 30 days in jail for violating local ordinances. "You and I can't change the state and federal constitutions," Zirkle said to the council. "I won't say nothing happens.

We have to keep going back to the Legislature with that message (for anti-gang legislation)." Rogers said the prosecuting and sentencing issue won't change until the west side of the state realizes it's not just a problem for small cities such as Toppenish. "We need to be getting our facts straight and study this (issue)," Rogers said.

"We need to have people statewide (handling it)." TOPPENISH -- With a table full of police-confiscated BB guns and knives wrapped in plastic bags lying in front them, Toppenish City Council members caught a glimpse Monday of the risks officers face when pursuing gangs.