CA - Lincoln police deal with gang activity
Thought worth posting as this is informative re gangs.
http://www.lincolnnewsmessenger.com/art ... 01gang.txt
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Last modified: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 4:48 PM PST
Lincoln Police Department Cpl. Dan Borgeson points out local examples of gang graffiti. Karina williams/the news messenger
Lincoln police deal with gang activity
By: D.E. Kern, The News Messenger
Lincoln police launched a task force earlier this month charged with reducing incidents of gang graffiti reported throughout the city. Operations Lt. Mike Sherlock said police made three arrests directly related to the vandalism, commonly known as tagging.
In a written statement, police said there were 17 reports of gang graffiti in the month of November, a number that Chief Brian Vizzusi referred to as " ... 17 (occurrences) too many."
Sherlock said the task force - comprised of three detectives, School Resource Officer Steve Krueger, Sgt. Dave Ibarra and members of the Placer County Probation Department produced nearly immediate results. However, police remain concerned that the spray-painted indicators of gangs' presence will return.
So does Daryl Morales, a family advocate with the Lighthouse Family Resource Center, who has worked with gang members often during his career.
"If you see something crossed out and something painted over it, at that point, there's probably going to be some type of conflict between (those) two gangs," he said. "Another thing that I have seen is that there are some wannabe gang (members) who are here in town."
Sherlock said he suspects Lincoln's problem probably involves a mix of the so-called wannabes and established gang members with stronger affiliations.
That may be the case, Morales said. But he worries that gang ties in the city run deeper than many residents and civil servants want to believe.
"I'm seeing it starting to become a lot more prominent and known. It's starting to become a little more outward. I think (the problem is) starting to be a little bit more on that curve where it's growing.
"We've been having more incoming people into Linc-oln," Morales added. "They bring all of their stuff with them."
Morales said local gang affiliates are nearly certainly associated with the Nortenos or the Surenos, the street-level branches of two Latino prison gangs, la Nuestra Familia and the Mexican Mafia.
The Nortenos have historically claimed the area north of Bakersfield as their territory, while the Surenos have enjoyed prominence in Southern California.
However, with Lincoln's growth, there has been overlap between the two groups, which have been rivals since the late 1960s, Morales said.
"Either you're claiming red (for Surenos) or you're claiming blue (for Nortenos)," he said. "Say that we've got a family that was raised down in L.A. and they move up here to Lincoln. Unless you have family here, you're moving into a Norte neighborhood."
It's the semblance of family, or belonging, that originally attracts potential members to gangs, Morales contends, and it's the wannabes those most likely responsible for the tagging seen in Lincoln whomost often engage in nuisance crimes as a means of being accepted.
Both Morales and Sherlock agreed it's vital for residents to respond when they see evidence of gang activity.
"If (you) see people hanging out in unusual places such as parks at night, call us," Sherlock said. "If you see graffiti with the number 13 (Surenos) or 14 (Nortenos), give us a call. Also, they are into Roman numerals and old-English style script."
The numbers, according to gang experts, are derived from the fact that "M," which stands for Mexican Mafia, is the thirteenth letter in the alphabet. Conversely, "N," for Norteno or Nuestra, is the fourteenth letter in the alphabet.
Morales said the community needs to act now to curb gang affiliation and violence it breeds.
"It's definitely preventive awareness (needed)," he said. "And it needs to start in the school setting. Finding common ground helps. That and helping them keep the end in mind, for their kids and their little brothers."
