City detective testifies about gangs
Wednesday, 21 March 2007
By KENT JACKSON


Police Detective Christopher Orozco is learning to read the writing on the wall – the squiggles, symbols and slogans that gangs spray paint on buildings, fences, and pavement in Hazleton.
some gang members, Orozco watches with whom they meet and studies surveillance photos to identify their associates.
Through his work, he identified gangs active in Hazleton, including Crips, Bloods, MS-13, East Side, the Latin Kings and Trinitarios, which seems to be absorbing members from Dominicans Don’t Play.
Identities aren’t always obvious.
One member of MS-13, a gang also known as Mara Salvatrucha, had “MX” tattooed on his right shoulder and “S3” on his left shoulder.
“Looking at one arm, it was difficult to understand,” Orozco said. But when looking at the man across his body and realizing the “X” was the Roman numeral for 10, Orozco knew the tattoo represented MS-13.
The man’s brother is wanted for homicide in Omaha, Neb., and police there told Orozco to look for him in Hazleton.
Like tattoos, graffiti requires care to decipher. A gang’s name scrawled on a wall, for example, might be an insult written by a rival gang, Orozco said.
Jared Lewis, director of Know Gangs, an organization in Jefferson, Wis., that instructs police, said he explained some graffiti to Orozco when visiting Hazleton on Tuesday, the night before he also testified in the trial.
Before Orozco began teaching himself about gangs, he noticed signs of their activity, such as groups dressing in the same colors, as far back as two years ago in Hazleton.
“Basically you were seeing a pattern of behavior and put it together in your head?” Carla Maresca, an attorney for the city, asked during the trial.
“Yes,” Orozco said.
He began talking about gangs with Police Chief Robert Ferdinand.
From those conversations grew the Street Crime Unit that he heads.
The unit formed last month, and Ferdinand and Orozco still are deciding how it will function.
Eight of the 33 members of the police force are assigned to the unit part-time.
They meet regularly with Orozco, who said he spends about 20 hours a week on the unit’s business.
The Street Crime Unit took a general name.
Orozco said he wanted the unit to be flexible enough to investigate other crimes, such as a rash of robberies, but the focus is on gangs.
After testifying, Lewis said Hazleton set up the task force on a model used in other cities with investigative and patrol branches.
“Police officers who gather information (are) contacting gang members and getting intelligence back to other officers to do follow up,” Lewis said.
He said Hazleton’s gangs appear well established. Even Hazleton teenagers whom he contacted on the Internet social-networking site MySpace knew particulars of gang activity in the city. He said he saw a picture of people throwing gang signs in Hazleton on MySpace.
“Once it reaches the level where 12-year-old kid knows what’s happening, you’ve got a problem,” Lewis said.
Police have made a good start in dealing with Hazleton’s gangs, but he said the officers need help.
“It’s not a police problem. It’s going to take churches, schools and social service organizations if you want to get any footing,” Lewis said.

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