Thread: Police In Smaller N.C. Towns Learning To Spot Criminal Gangs

http://www.wral.com/apncnews/9819380/detail.html

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina investigators are looking for gangs in towns you wouldn't expect.

Police in Chapel Hill, better known for its shady lanes than its gritty streets, have a $50,000 state grant to pay for training, extra payroll and community outreach sessions to recognize and counter criminal gangs. Small communities such as Henderson and Reidsville and vacation spots such as Wilmington and North Topsail Beach received similar grants.

Though gang graffiti has turned up in almost every Chapel Hill neighborhood, gangs are far from entrenched, police Capt. Chris Blue said.

"We don't have an epidemic problem by any stretch," he said. "But we do have a presence."

The most recent study by the Gov.'s Crime Commission counted 387 gangs in North Carolina in 2004. There were more than 8,500 members, up 68 percent compared to police responses from a similar questionnaire in 1999. The largest concentration of gangs were found in the Triangle area in Wake and Harnett counties, in the Charlotte metropolitan area of Mecklenburg and Union counties, and in the Greenville area.

In Chapel Hill, gang activity spikes at hours that nightclubs close and during big street festivals.

Police noticed an influx of gang members after the town's annual Apple Chill street fair wrapped up after nightfall. Three men were shot during the festival weekend in April and the town voted to end the fair.

During the town's unofficial Halloween street party, which has attracted as many as 70,000 people, gang members come in from Durham, Charlotte and Greensboro, Chapel Hill police Maj. Brian Curran said.

The town's police have seen men claiming to be members of Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, considered one of the nation's deadliest gangs. But police need training to sort out the bona fide gang members from teenagers just dressing the part.

"Gang subculture has transcended youth culture now," said Mitch McKinney, a Chapel Hill police officer heading the department's anti-gang effort. "It's very faddish for kids to portray themselves as gang members."

Though officers want to track real gangsters, Blue said police can't dismiss wannabes who could be future gang members, or the teenagers who want to prove themselves with crime.

Though neighboring Durham commits a squad of 30 police officers to coping with gangs, Chapel Hill's police will train only select officers on gang awareness. The department wants at least one officer on each shift trained to analyze gang-related activity. Two have been trained so far.

Trained officers will conduct lengthy interviews with suspects to determine whether they are true gang members. The department will also train more officers to use an online database of known gang members. Details catalogued in GangNet include aliases and tattoos of individual gang members.

"It's easy to look at white shirts and baggy pants and see gang activity, said Delores Bailey, director of the EmPOWERment community development agency. "Some of these kids are drug dealers, and some are just hanging out because they don't have a place to be."

"Gang subculture has transcended youth culture now," said Mitch McKinney, a Chapel Hill police officer heading the department's anti-gang effort. "It's very faddish for kids to portray themselves as gang members."

And shouldn't we Americans be proud of that!

Do you really think that any MS-13 gang members would be checked for the MS-13 tatoos before becoming legal residents of in this country? I doubt it! It is just a matter of time until this nation is as corrupt and lawless as Mexico if something isn't done soon.