Thread: Florida a Growing Gang Capital

Too bad they didn't go into the gang problems within Miami Dade County. It is really bad. I live in unincorporated Miami Dade County and the City of North Miami Beach is a few blocks south of me. They have a huge gang problem. Many of those are Hiatian gang and consist of both legal and illegal immigrants. I have heard gun shots that resulted in death.


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florid ... 5694.story

Florida a growing gang capital
Broward, Palm Beach counties are hotbeds of activity

By Josh Hafenbrack and Sofia Santana, Sun Sentinel

6:02 p.m. EST, February 24, 2010

A growing gang capital, Florida now has 1,100 gangs with almost 49,000 members, a statewide gang reduction task force reported Tuesday.

Attorney General Bill McCollum said the figures represent the first comprehensive census of gang activity in Florida. Previously, the state had relied on figures compiled every 10 years by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

"The most significant thing about this is it's a benchmark," McCollum said.

The council on gang reduction, which was created in 2008, identified 1,100 Florida gangs with 48,812 gang members or people affiliated with gangs. The figures were compiled using information from county and state law enforcement and prison officials.

The gang members are spread statewide, but South Florida had the most, with 457 gangs and 19,685 gang members. Palm Beach County has been a particular hotbed for gang activity.

In Broward County, authorities say they deal mostly with small, loose-knit groups of teens whose activities generally are isolated to one neighborhood. Many of these groups do not fit the stereotypical definition of a gang because they usually do not use graffiti to identify their territory, wear certain colors or have gang tattoos.

For that reason, Broward law enforcement officials have long been hesitant to label such groups as gangs. That view, though, has led to much confusion and controversy over how to define and address the county's gang problem. Authorities publicly acknowledged that gangs were widespread in Broward for the first time about three years ago, but the admission came after years of denial and downplaying.

Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach are the county's ground zero for gang violence, with drive-by shootings and threats against crime witnesses reported to authorities, on average, several times a month.

Last May, the Broward Sheriff's Office targeted a group that calls itself Doom City and arrested more than 50 alleged gang members in Deerfield and Pompano on various drug and gun charges. The bust was one of the biggest gang-related sweeps in the county in recent years.

Despite the statewide survey, it's not clear how effective Florida is at actually snuffing out gang activity. Two years ago, the Legislature passed a law establishing life sentences for gang kingpins — but no one has received such a sentence. And county sheriffs and state prosecutors, the linchpins of anti-gang efforts, are struggling with budget cuts.

McCollum said the lack of money isn't a problem, pointing to recent arrests of the Black Mob gang in Tampa and the Latin Kings gang in Orlando. "We're doing the job without it," McCollum said. "All the work that's being done is being done with reduced budgets."

Copyright © 2010, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The terrorists are in the USA, and all governors (like Crist) should be held accountable.

Crist turned a blind eye as his constituents were murdered. So hopefully the next governor will start being a little more serious about his or her job.