I wish they would admit in this article what law enforcement already knows and that is gang presence has increased due to the large nubmer of illegals in this state. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to be figure it out as many smaller farmer communities where illegals are found working have gang problems. This has been in the newspapers on a regular basis down here. It is not only Hispanic gangs which have illegals as members but also Haitian ones down here. I am shocked that they never mentioned their most violent gang violent called the East side Boyz. They have shoot outs on the streets of Miami and have been mentioned on the A&E show the First 48 (the show deals with real detectives solving real homicide cases) where one of their gang members was charged with murder.

www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/295948.html

Authorities seek ways to curtail surge in gangs
The number of gangs in Florida has mushroomed in recent years -- and former rivals are now forming alliances.
Posted on Mon, Nov. 05, 2007
BY JUAN CARLOS CHAVEZ

The number of street gangs in South Florida has increased drastically, climbing more than 200 percent in the past two decades.

Now, authorities have noticed that it's becoming more and more common for once-rival gangs to form alliances to increase their impact and obtain control of the drug business.

In 1985, the Miami-Dade Police Department identified at least 36 street gangs with about 2,800 members. Today, the number of street gangs has exceeded 150 and their associates number at least 7,000.

`A REAL RISK'

''The problem has stopped being just uncomfortable and has become an explicit and real risk,'' said Rusty Keeble, president of the National Association of Gangs Investigators.

Since July, the three Florida counties with the most gang members in prison are Miami-Dade, Hillsborough and Broward, and the number of gang members sentenced for serious crimes has increased from 2,759 in 2004-05 to more than 4,440 in 2006-07. That's an increase of 61 percent.

''Like no other state in the country during the last quarter of the century, Florida has experienced an increased recurrence of criminal activity related to street gangs. Statistics are scary,'' Keeble said.

Street gangs like La Raza, Mafia Boyz, Crips, Sureño 13, Sur XIII and Bloods have extended their tentacles to large and small communities of the city, posing a threat, authorities say, to both residents and private property.

At the state level, the phenomenon has reached endemic proportions as experts estimate there are 21,500 gangs and more than 731,000 members have joined them.

The huge surge in gangs is attributed to a number of factors, including migration from the West Coast to the East Coast. Authorities also blame a range of social issues, from ostracism and domestic violence to parental neglect and dropping out of school.

MOST IN CITIES

Most of Florida's gang activity is concentrated in its cities, like Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Palm Beach and Lakeland.

And one of the newest wrinkles is the makeup of its membership.

''There was a belief that women participation in gangs was very low,'' José Arroyo, a specialist in gang behavior and juvenile delinquency, said. ``But reality signals that we are opening a new chapter.''

Arroyo said women's presence in street gangs was less than 6 percent by the end of the 1980s, when their primary role was to hide weapons and drugs. But that has changed, experts say. They predict that participation of women between 15 and 21 years old in the next three years will surpass 20 percent.

''They aspire to be recognized, to have a status, and they think that being a functional part of a gang will change their situations, even the way they are seen by other women,'' Arroyo said.

A study released in October by the State Office of Intelligence and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement recommended better cooperation and more sharing of information among law enforcement agencies.

Since 2002, the Miami-Dade Multisectorial Agency Against Gangs has made more than 2,500 arrests and confiscated numerous guns, some of them similar to AK-47 war rifles, as well as 7,108 grams of marijuana and 1,558 grams of cocaine.

Gerald Bailey, FDLE commissioner, said street gangs are a clear and present danger all over the state. ''A joint effort will make streets safer,'' he said.

FDLE is part of the so-called Executive Group, an alliance recently created by Attorney General Bill McCollum, to develop a state strategy for reducing street gangs.

Law enforcement officials worry about the impact that gangs have on the overall crime rate. Last year, there were 1,129 murders in Florida, an increase of 28 percent over 2005.

TARGETING THE GUNS

''We have to eliminate these gangs and take away the assault guns they carry,'' said Katherine Fernández Rundle, Miami-Dade's state attorney. ``There is no doubt that this increase is a consequence of the violence that comes with crimes committed by gangs. The message is clear and simple: Being a member of a street gang will result in prison or capital punishment.''

Experts say gangs have also gone high-tech, using the Internet and other electronic communications to recruit members.

The same report also noted that a greater number of gangs have strengthened their local presence through radio frequencies, text messages, cellphones, digital cameras and videos.

''What we never asked ourselves is the extent of where gangs can go,'' Arroyo said. ``But as the situation progresses, this question keeps repeating itself over and over.''