Thread: County Officials Work to Nip Gang Activity in the Bud

http://www.theviewnewspapers.com/articl ... 91&cat=193

County Officials Work to Nip Gang Activity in the Bud
BRYNA ZUMER
May 8, 2006

The Washington, D.C. area has made headlines for an alarming rise in gang activity recently, and local officials are also stepping up vigilance toward potential gang threats in Howard County.

Although gangs remain a very low threat here, police are taking proactive measures in an attempt to prevent more violent crimes, such as those associated with MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha), a Latino gang responsible for several high-profile assaults and murders in northern Virginia.

At an April 19 presentation sponsored by the county’s Association of Community Services, police officers explained how to recognize gang symbols to about 60 human service providers, other officials and members of the general public at Oakland Mills’ Meeting House.

“This is not just a law enforcement issue. This is an issue for everyone in this room,” said Sgt. George Belleville, adding that this county is unusually fortunate because it can address the problem before it gets out of hand.

In other jurisdictions, he said, “nobody wants to talk about gangs until the bodies are hitting the streets.”

The mobility of gangs, combined with the difficulty of defining a “gang-related activity,” makes it hard to create accurate statistics. Belleville explained that although police officials have seen more gang graffiti in recent years, it may be due more to careful training than to an actual increase in gangs.

“The more you train people to look for it, the more you’re going to find,” he said.

There does seem to be a rise in activity by MS-13, considered by federal experts to be the most threatening gang in the U.S. due to the brazenness of its crimes and its complex international network.

The gang is comprised primarily of Hispanic men and boys, Belleville said, and is very active in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.

The first regional reports of MS-13 activity came in 1999, and county police first arrested an MS-13 member in 2001. Since then, there have been multiple arrests and in 2004, the police department began seriously training officers in recognizing and arresting gang members.

By 2005, gang activity or graffiti was reported in every part of the county, including Savage, Elkridge, Columbia and Ellicott City.

Belleville said it is important for both residents and officials to stay vigilant, because gangs move to areas where they face less opposition and hassling.

“We don’t want to be the path of least resistance,” he said.

Police officials have been gathering much of their own research, Belleville explained, because gang programs from Los Angeles do not necessarily work in Howard County and it is hard to find information on preventive measures.

The department is also trying to coordinate its response with that of other counties. Howard Pfc. Kelly Smith, who was voted Officer of the Year in 2005, has worked extensively with the RAGE (Regional Area Gang Enforcement) Task Force and even testified before a congressional committee in April 2005 on Hispanic gangs in the Washington region.

Smith has conducted lengthy investigations for the U.S. Attorney’s office and his research has helped other officials study the trends of regional gangs.

Police have also been working with school administrators to help them identify gang-related symbols or references. Gang members sometimes leave graffiti or allusions to their gangs in artwork or school-sponsored creative displays.

Belleville pointed out the yearbook photo of one local senior, next to which was written “LRC 4 Life,” in reference to a gang called Long Reach Crew.

“They’re throwing it right in [administrators’] faces,” he said.

Gangs working in Howard County are comprised of all races and sexes. Factors that facilitate a teenager’s joining a gang include low self-esteem, a lack of identity, the need to belong, the desire for security, peer pressure, and a lack of positive alternatives as well as parental involvement.

People discuss the “dumbing down” of America, Belleville said, but there is also the “thugging down” of America. Clothing, symbols, colors and hand signs that were originally associated with specific gangs have become mainstream, worn by everyone from high school students to hip-hop stars on television.

Teachers and other officials, however, need to pay attention to these symbols, without overreacting. A student who wears the same colors to school every day, for example, may potentially be advertising gang affiliation.

“When you start to see these things, think about it,” Belleville said, adding that caseworkers need to probe deeper into situations where teenagers seem troubled or neglected.

The gang offers the teenager security, as well as food, shelter, money and discipline, serving as a type of alternative family, Belleville said. “They provide everything for these kids.”

Teens who want to be in a gang, or are rookie members, are just as dangerous as longtime members. Belleville said that “wanna be” equals “gonna be,” and noted that rookie gang members frequently commit major crimes.

“They are willing to do more stupid things than the older people,” he said.

By giving school officials and other service providers the tools to identify gang problems, police officials hope to coordinate a plan and response to not just gang activity, but other hate groups and the Ku Klux Klan.

“We’re trying to get ahead of the game,” Belleville said about the police’s preventive work.

The gang offers the teenager security, as well as food, shelter, money and discipline, serving as a type of alternative family, Belleville said. "They provide everything for these kids."

It's a shame these gangs can't utilize their resources and do something more productive with what they've got, it's all about image(ego) and $$.

ps. the media here holds a large part of the culpability, they're promoting organized criminal activity(which is what "gang activity" should be called) with the whole "thug culture" they push or at least glamorize so readily. It's just piling onto all the nihilism they're feeding to kids(actual or overgrown)..