http://drugsense.org/pages/donate/index.htm
Pubdate: Sat, 14 Jan 2006
Source: Frederick News Post (MD)
Copyright: 2006 Randall Family, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.fredericknewspost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/814
Author: Katy Brandenburg, News-Post Staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

STREET GANGS

FREDERICK -- One night in September 2004, Steven Jones was awakened
about 1 a.m. by a sound he couldn't identify.

"It woke me up from a dead sleep. A loud, roaring sound. I looked
outside and saw a huge mob," he said. "It was kind of surreal."

Mr. Jones, a resident of the Stonegate subdivision on Frederick's west
side, was sure what he and other neighbors witnessed that night was a
gang fight. He said the crowd was made up of whom he believed to be
more than 50 Salvadorans and Mexicans, rioting in the normally quiet
streets.

"I used to live on the West Coast," he said. "I know how gangs look,
how they dress."

Police came to break up the mob, but the confusion lasted more than an
hour, Mr. Jones said.

Other neighborhood residents, who would not give their names for fear
of reprisal, said numerous incidents of suspicious behavior have led
them to believe gang members live in their neighborhood.

Steven Stoyke, a Hillcrest resident, said many of the problems in his
neighborhood -- such as power outages, trash and crime -- relate to
overcrowding, illegal immigration and poverty. He said gang activity
is possible but is not the main cause of neighborhood unrest.

"You'd have to be blind or very naive not to think that was available
here," he said. "A lot of people are struggling to get by. A lot of us
are fearful of this next summer."

More Than Rumor?

It is important not to racially profile or hold one particular
ethnicity or group of people as responsible for gang activity,
according to law enforcement officials.

Detective Robert Marker, gang analyst for the Frederick Police
Department, said gangs are widespread and constantly migrating. While
Frederick does have some gangs, the level of activity is nowhere near
that of larger cities, like Washington.

"Fortunately, we haven't seen any of the (gang-related) violence here
E and we're aiming to keep it that way," Detective Marker said.

Residents and business owners don't want people to think the city has
gangs; that perception could hurt the local economy and quality of
life people value in Frederick.

At a recent meeting, real estate agents told Detective Marker
prospective buyers have been asking about gangs. By law, real estate
agents are prohibited from discussing crime, demographics or other
statistics about a neighborhood. They can only refer people with
concerns to the police.

Whether the concerns are valid or not, Frederick County does have
several positive characteristics.

Frederick County was ranked the fifth-wealthiest county in Maryland in
2005 and was among the wealthiest 1.5 percent of counties nationwide.

The crime rate in Frederick County dropped 15 percent from 2004 to
2005, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report. In 2004, 2,265
major crimes occurred in the county compared with 1,911 in 2005.

Some Frederick residents believe the concept of gangs has been blown
out of proportion, fueled more by fear than reality. Remo Molino, a
local business owner and Whittier resident, said he believes graffiti
in his neighborhood was sprayed by kids who are not necessarily gang
members. "Wannabes," he called them.

"I can honestly say that 100 percent of Frederick County is a safe
place to live," he said. "I feel safe walking -- and letting my
children walk -- down the streets of my neighborhood alone."

Detective Marker said that while gang members may steal a purse or rob
a store to feed a drug habit, most times the violence is between one
gang and another. The average resident has no reason to be afraid, but
should be aware nonetheless.

Encouraging a realistic and educated perception on gangs is part of a
four-pronged approach the Frederick Police Department is taking toward
combating their growth and influence.

The four prongs, or principles, are: enforcement/community policing,
education, prevention and intelligence/investigation.

Frederick Police Chief Kim Dine, previously an officer in Washington
for 27 years, said Frederick's quality of life is not accidental but
the result of aggressive community policing. He has experience dealing
with gangs and is not afraid to confront the issue head-on.

"Gangs in the region are a big issue and something we need to talk
about in reality," he said.

Who and Where

Frederick Police brochures define a gang as a group of people who form
an allegiance for a common purpose and commit violent or illegal
activities. Street gangs are usually involved with drugs to generate
profit and may claim control over a certain territory, creating an
atmosphere of fear and intimidation.

Technically, a group of seven or eight teenagers who gather regularly
in one area could be called a gang, but it's the behavior that
separates the real gangs from the wannabes, according to the brochure.
Street gangs band together to create a brotherhood of violence and
crime.

"It's not a crime to be a gang member," Detective Marker
said.

And it is often difficult to prove gang involvement in a crime. He
said for an incident to be gang-related, it must be an act of violence
that is done for the gang or against another gang.

"Nothing (within Frederick police statistics) is categorized as
gang-related," he said. "We wouldn't treat it differently from any
other crime."

However, detectives do collect intelligence on gangs they believe to
be in the area. Detective Marker said he and other officers get
information from talking to arrestees, people who are friends with
suspected gang members and sometimes gang members themselves.

"Most gang members will talk about it," he said. "They're not afraid
of drawing attention to themselves. To them, it's a badge of honor."

Most people might not know what to look for when it comes to
identifying gang members. A certain color of clothing or a bandanna
hanging out of a specific pocket could be significant. Graffiti on a
wall could be a random act of vandalism or a cryptic signal to others
that a particular gang "owns" that turf.

The most widely known nationwide gangs, divisions of which exist in
Frederick, are the Bloods (United Blood Nation) and CRIPS (Common
Revolution in Progress) and the international gang MS13, which
originated in El Salvador, Detective Marker said.

Others include CMG (Certified Mother------- Gang), as well as local
gangs such as the Taney Avenue Gang, which has been seen in Whittier;
the PA Mob at the Sagner community; the Bottom 6th Street Boys; and
the John Hanson Uptown gang -- many members of which have been
incarcerated, according to Lt. Tom Chase, head of the criminal
investigations division of the Frederick police.

"They all wear something to distinguish them(selves), from colors to
tattoos, and they use hand signals and code words to other members,"
Detective Marker said.

The colors are often found in such items as sports apparel when a
professional player has a color and number on his jersey -- MS13
members sometimes wear No. 13 jerseys. The Nike emblem has even been
adopted by some gangs as their symbol.

"The Maryland MS13 is so well organized it meets each year in Ocean
City and invites outside members to come to the meeting," Detective
Marker said.

Fighting Back

Teenagers or young adults usually join gangs because they are looking
for a sense of belonging, Chief Dine said. People have cited low
self-esteem, alienation and the desire to be feared and respected as
reasons people become gang members.

Many inmates find themselves joining gangs for protection behind bars.
Some celebrities are former gang members, and young people see them
and think they are cool, said Detective Marker, referring to Snoop Dog
and Coolio and even professional boxer Mike Tyson.

Early intervention by school programs can be an effective method of
prevention, as can after-school activities, which incorporate the
theory that kids who are busy doing constructive things don't have
time to get into trouble.

Frederick Alderman C. Paul Smith, who has coached baseball for several
years, said that in his experience, if kids have opportunities to get
involved in sports, they will.

"Kids who participate become friends with other players, their
families and friends come to games E you tend to care about the people
you play with," he said.

Mr. Smith said the city needs to do more to provide affordable
recreational opportunities to its youth.

He also said church youth programs and the skate park in Hillcrest are
helpful activities to keep teens busy and involved in the community.

Mayor Jeff Holtzinger said he wants to put a police satellite station
on the west side of town to give street officers a base of operations.
It would also help assuage residents' concerns, he said.

"Whether it's gang(-related) or not, there are issues on the west side
of town, and we need to do something about it," he said.

Mr. Smith suggested the new Frederick Police Department station could
possibly double as a community recreation center.

"We need to prevent alienation from developing -- that's a key word,"
he said. "If kids don't feel a part of society, they could be drawn to
a gang."