http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pb ... CAT=News01

Article published Mar 20, 2006

Hispanic gangs taking spotlight
Alleged gang-related shooting deaths cause concern

YONIKA WILLIS
Tribune Staff Writer

Joe Guerrero knows the gang life all too well.

"Growing up in Chicago, I didn't know anything different," he said. "I remember cheering when someone I knew got arrested."

The life Guerrero, 44, was living in Chicago was leading him down a potentially bad path, so he moved to Goshen in 1982 at the age of 21 to escape it."I came straight out of Chicago," he said. "I noticed (gangs in Goshen) right away. There were biker gangs, then there were other gangs, but smaller. Later on, though, in the late '80s, ethnic gangs started to make a strong presence."

In the '80s and '90s, authorities say, Michiana saw an influx of violence from predominately black gangs. But recently, Hispanic gangs have taken the spotlight, said Elkhart County Sheriff's Department Detective Marcus Wolfram.

Hispanic gangs"Gang violence has been here for some time," said Guerrero, who works for anti-gang organizations in Elkhart County. "And it's not anything new; however, the levels (of crime) are growing."

Elkhart County has experienced two alleged gang-related shooting deaths in the past 11 months.

Sixteen-year-old José Martinez was killed April 9, and 14-year-old Rogelio Reyes died Feb. 19.

"In Elkhart County, (Hispanic gangs) are a lot more prevalent, not only in numbers but in activity, than predominately black and white gangs," Wolfram said.

Like most gangs, Hispanic gangs are centered around drugs, he said.The Vatos Locos and Sureño 13, the two most prominent Hispanic gangs in Elkhart County, are both tied into larger gangs that began in the California prison system and have access to drugs, he said.

Why Goshen?

But rustic Elkhart County, with its countryside dotted with horses and buggies carrying Amish families to and fro, seems an unlikely place for gangs to settle.

Many gang members are born and raised there.

"Their parents come here for work, usually from Mexico," Wolfram said.And now that Elkhart County is a high employment area -- with a 2000 unemployment rate of only 2.5 percent -- many Hispanics have relocated here, said Bill Wargo, chief investigator for the Elkhart County prosecutor's office.

But often with migration comes isolation.

"Ethnic gangs started to make a strong presence because (members) feel like they're strangers in a strange land," Guerrero said. "When you have a rash of migration, it's very hard to blend in. Oftentimes ethnic gangs are formed because of that, for a feeling of protection."

And Elkhart County isn't alone in feeling the effects of gang violence, Guerrero said.

'Complex problem, few solutions'In the late '80s and early '90s, law enforcement agencies focused most of their attention on predominately black gangs from Chicago and Detroit who came to Michiana to sell drugs, Wargo said.

So whatever became of those gangs?

Although some gang members active in those groups are now incarcerated, Wargo said, the gangs still exist, but are much more low-key.

"The black gangs are still around; they're just not killing each other," he said.

But cutting down on Hispanic gang violence isn't as easy. "It's a very complex problem with few or no simple solutions," Wargo said.With the rapid Hispanic population increase in Elkhart County, a language barrier exists between many law enforcement officers and Hispanics, making communication difficult.

Census documents put the growth of the Hispanic population at an estimated 39 percent from 2000 to 2004, but law enforcement officials note many more undocumented Hispanics in the area.

"For officers on the street level, it's hard for our guys to interrogate the Hispanic gangs," Wolfram said. "A lot of (officers) know enough Spanish to tell them to stop what they're doing and leave."Also, law enforcement in the countries where many Hispanics originate has been corrupt, so the same level of distrust exists when Hispanics move north, Wargo said.

And unlike predominately black gangs, who generally stayed in their own neighborhoods in past decades, Hispanic gangs roam, Wargo said.

"This is kind of indicative of the way Elkhart County is laid out," Wargo added. "It's so homogeneous, it all just runs together." The biggest reason kids are joining gangs is because they don't feel they have any belonging, Wolfram said."It's like, 'Hey, come be with us; we'll love you, give you food and a place to stay, and on top of that, we'll put money in your pocket,' " he said.

And as was the case with the two recent shootings in Elkhart County, it's not uncommon to see brothers or even more than one generation of a family involved in a particular gang, Wolfram said.The Goshen City Council is trying to pass a proposed curfew that could crack down on some of the recent gang violence.

By not having teens out in the early hours of the morning, crimes such as the shooting death of 14-year-old Rogelio Reyes last month could be avoided.

Because the state has no curfew, Goshen hasn't enforced one since 2000.

The community's roleThirty-eight-year-old Trenda Leach has lived in Goshen her entire life and said she's never before witnessed gang violence in her hometown like she has recently.

"When I was younger, it was the whole north side against the south side; it was more of a fashion thing," she said. "I'm not sure why (gangs) are such a problem today. Maybe it's because (Goshen) is growing so fast."

Goshen grew by an estimated 4 percent between 2000 and 2004, and Elkhart County has grown by an estimated 5 percent.

But after seeing the struggles of her five children, ages 9 through 18, Leach knew there was a problem.

"Two of them had a gun pointed at them for no apparent reason, and my kids would have to fight on the way home from school," she said.That's when she and other parents decided to form the group Moms Against Gangs in January 2005.

"We have about five active moms and about five to 10 kids on a regular basis," Leach said. "These are kids from the community and the high school; some of them are in gangs ... we're not trying to separate anyone."

Last year, young participants went bowling and to baseball games, and they did community service, had fundraisers, and removed graffiti from public places in the area. After José Martinez's death, things died down for the group a bit, but more activities are in the works for this summer, she said.

When forming her group, Leach worked closely with Guerrero, who is the executive director of Communities in Schools and a member of the Elkhart County Anti-Gang Coalition, which was formed three years ago.

Among other programs associated with the coalition, Guerrero has a Venture Crew, which he describes as an "anti-gang" gang that uses the same tactics of a normal gang but for positive measure."We're looking to help these young men find their gifts so we can share them with the community," Guerrero said. "We want to recover these kids from a life of dropout and crime."

Staff writer Yonika Willis:
ywillis@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6556