Thread: NC: Menace of gangs may be growing

Menace of gangs may be growing

By Joe Killian
Staff Writer

Police say four of the city's past five homicides were connected to street gang activity. That statistic shocks many people — but not those living in the low-income neighborhoods where gangs hold sway or the police officers who patrol there.

The increase in gang graffiti — spray-painted tags, or symbols, that advertise a gang's presence or mark its territory — is the most visible sign of what some say is a recent surge in gang activity. The different tags show the number of gangs in the city, estimated at 14.

* The three-point dog paws of the Bloods.


* The six-pointed star that designates Crips.


* The pointed crowns of the Latin Kings.


* The large number 13 for Sur 13, a Latino gang that police say has grown with recent immigration.


There are other red flags of gang activity. The Greensboro Police Department's robbery division says 25 percent of all robberies in the city are committed by gang members. The division calls that a conservative estimate.

Are gangs getting larger, bolder and more dangerous? Or is more light simply being cast on a problem that's long been kept in the dark?

"I transferred to the youth division from vice/narcotics in 1989," police Chief Tim Bellamy said. "We were dealing with gangs then. It's not a new problem. I think there is more awareness of it now."

Bellamy said gauging just how bad the gang problem is can be difficult — street gangs don't print their membership rosters.

But the department's criminal intelligence division, tasked with keeping tabs on gangs, said the picture is becoming clearer every day.

"We have 237 validated gang members in Greensboro right now," said Sgt. Mike Richey of criminal intelligence. "That's a 46 percent increase from this time last year."

Richey is quick to point out that number doesn't necessarily mean a surge in gang membership. It does mean the police have been able to confirm more gang affiliations in the past year.

Like many law enforcement agencies, Greensboro police use an eight-point criteria for "validating" a true gang member.

Suspects that meet at least three of the criteria — such as having gang brands and tattoos or previous gang-related convictions — are considered gang members by police.

"For every gang member we validate, we estimate there are five or six that we don't know about," Richey said.

Richey has been working with gangs in one way or another for a decade.

He said an increase in validations means that more officers know what to look for to document gang activity. That's a good thing.

But increased awareness also paints a bleak picture of the city and its gang problem.

"In the last month, we've validated 18 gang members," Richey said. "Twelve of those came from investigations of serious assaults, robberies and homicides."

Police said the increase in gang violence isn't necessarily about gangs warring for turf. But it does mean more gang members are carrying guns for robberies and drug deals that are often a part of gang life.

Gangs provide surrogate families for troubled youth, Richey said, but they're just as important as a source of income.

In Greensboro's poorest neighborhoods, residents say gangs provide fast, easy and big money for young people with few career options.

Walk down the streets of neighborhoods near East Lee Street and Phillips and Summit avenues, and you'll see young men gathered on stoops or balconies, walking the streets in the middle of a weekday. Some are simply idle — high school kids with no jobs, nowhere to go and nothing to do. Others are selling drugs in broad daylight.

People in the neighborhoods say it doesn't take long for one group to turn into the other.

Asked if the gang problem has become worse, neighborhood residents say it's always been bad and "white Greensboro" is just waking up to the problem.

According to police intelligence, the gang problem crosses racial boundaries. The majority of the city's gang members — more than 56 percent — are black, police estimate. But the city's gang population is growing more diverse: 21 percent white, 22 percent Asian and 15 percent Latino. Because of Census definitions, there is some statistical overlap between estimates of white and Latino gang members.

Residents at Ray Warren Homes off East Lee Street say their neighborhood has been gang turf for as long as they can remember, but the number of gangs has increased. Once considered mostly Crip territory, Warren Homes residents say Latino and Asian gangs now tag their buildings and cruise their streets.

Earlier this month, a police car was fired on while patrolling that neighborhood. Middle-school-age children laugh when talking about how the bullet passed through the police car's trunk — like they'd seen it on TV.

Neighborhood parents say they worry about their kids getting involved in gangs or looking up to gang members. But many say they've accepted that gangs are a part of where they live and don't know what can be done about it.

The police chief knows what he'd like to see done.

"We need to start education and gang suppression young and get into those neighborhoods," Bellamy said. "Right now, kids as young as 8 or 9 years old can tell you where the gangs are and who has guns. That's who gets recruited — the juveniles."

Bellamy said he thinks it's past time for Greensboro to have its own dedicated gang unit. Of criminal intelligence's six officers, only one works full-time on gangs.

"We can just barely do the intelligence part of the job, and we need to be doing more education," Richey agreed. "In Durham, they have a 30-man gang unit. In Winston-Salem, they have an 11-man unit. Here we have one man full-time.

"People say our problem isn't as big as those cities. But it could become that big, if we don't do something," Richey said.

In the latest budget process, the police department requested one sergeant, a corporal and four detectives — less than Bellamy thinks is necessary.

City Manager Mitch Johnson said the proposal never got to the table.

Johnson agreed the anti-gang unit is needed, but he said concerns over tax increases meant that priority was given to funding 32 new police officers and offsetting overtime costs by assigning five full-time officers to downtown.

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or jkillian@news-record.com

Copyright © 2007
The News & Record
and Landmark Communications, Inc.

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Well, it should be quite clear to all by now that law enforcement can't handle it, and that includes the Dept. of Homeland Insecurity which let them in here in the first place, and anti-profiling legislation is literally going to get Americans killed! The body count as of now stands at 48,000 since 9/11. 50,000 soldiers were killed in Vietnam. We are at war and not permitted to fight back just as La Raza has stated!

Click and paste the you tube URL and see what the MS-13 gang is about. I'm sure you can figure out what SWP stands for!

Get armed ladies and gentleman. The government is aiding in your slaughter by not doing it's job of protecting you from such scumbags. They'll spend millions upon millions to bring in a tax evader and mobster (Al Capone) but when it comes to illegal alien gangs you are on your own.


The time to fight back is near, after reading instances of mass voter fraud, the window to vote in people who will do what you want is fast closing, if it hasn't already. Stock up on food, water, weapons and ammo.

It's becoming apparent we are on our own, and the responsibilty falls on us to clean up America, and do the job our government doesn't want too.