The Writing's On the Wall- From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Rogers : Graffiti of gangs puts law on guard
BY SHARON CRAWFORD ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEROGERS
— Police officials are concerned that changes they’ve seen in Hispanic gang graffiti are a sign of future violence. But community leaders are hoping that a new group will find ways to offer youths alternatives to violence.
Over the last year, there has been an increase in gang graffiti written on public buildings, private businesses and homes throughout the city, police said. Gang experts say graffiti — in this case spray-painted messages and symbols — is considered by gang members to be a "newspaper" for their rivals to see.
Rogers police Cpl. Kelley Cradduck said that although the city’s overall increase in criminal activity can’t be directly tied to gangs, there are signs the problem is becoming more prominent in Rogers.
Recently, gangs have been marking through their rivals’ graffiti with their own insignias, he said. Gang experts say this is a sign of disrespect and a potential turf war. "That is a dangerous sign," Cradduck said. "When you start seeing that, it means they are sending messages to each other. I hate to think of the day these two groups meet. Someone will end up dead. "We either take it seriously now, or we’ll regret it 10 years from now," he said.
Cradduck said that gangs are known to be involved in drug activity and violence against rival gangs.
A group of community leaders will meet Tuesday to discuss ways to reach out to the Hispanic community. Eventually, they hope to open the meetings up to the public for more input. Cesar Aguilar, director for the Rogers Community Center, said he decided to form a committee to look at Rogers’ gang problem after seeing Cradduck’s presentation on local gang activity. "I got really concerned because it could be dangerous for kids," Aguilar said. "For a long time, I thought it was just kids being kids. We want to do this because we need to create more awareness."
Aguilar said the committee will be made up of community leaders, school officials, religious representatives, people in the Hispanic community and law enforcement. Cradduck said police started seeing examples of gang graffiti several years ago, but it’s been on the increase in the last year. Police have identified graffiti from at least four different gangs with mostly Hispanic members, he said.
Police have identified graffiti from the Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, 18th Street, Surenos 13 and Brown Pride gangs, he said. "At first, the graffiti wasn’t what you consider traditional hard-core graffiti," Cradduck said. "But now they’re more hateful towards each other. You’re not seeing these little loosely organized kids who consider themselves gang members."
Cradduck and other police officers have started talking to school officials and community leaders about gangs and the importance of looking out for possible signs of gang activity. In the past few years, they’ve confiscated artwork and homework decorated with known gang symbols. "The graffiti is not a cultural issue, it’s a community issue," Cradduck said. [...]
Steve Nawojczyk, a gang expert based in North Little Rock, said Rogers officials are forward-thinking to make an effort to curb the gang problem early on. Officials in Little Rock "buried their heads in the sand" in the late 1980s when evidence of black gang graffiti started showing up on the streets, he said. "They acted like it wasn’t a problem until we had a murder rate that was higher per capita than many larger cities," Nawojczyk said.
Once a community sees gang graffiti on their streets, it’s important for law enforcement to come in and document the writings and then have them removed, Nawojczyk said. In Rogers, the city cleans up any graffiti on public buildings but leaves cleanup on privately owned buildings to the owners.
Nawojczyk said graffiti is just the beginning to what could happen if nothing is done. "The very next step is violence," Nawojczyk said.
This story was published Sunday, June 12, 2005
BY SHARON CRAWFORD ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEROGERS
— Police officials are concerned that changes they’ve seen in Hispanic gang graffiti are a sign of future violence. But community leaders are hoping that a new group will find ways to offer youths alternatives to violence.
Over the last year, there has been an increase in gang graffiti written on public buildings, private businesses and homes throughout the city, police said. Gang experts say graffiti — in this case spray-painted messages and symbols — is considered by gang members to be a "newspaper" for their rivals to see.
Rogers police Cpl. Kelley Cradduck said that although the city’s overall increase in criminal activity can’t be directly tied to gangs, there are signs the problem is becoming more prominent in Rogers.
Recently, gangs have been marking through their rivals’ graffiti with their own insignias, he said. Gang experts say this is a sign of disrespect and a potential turf war. "That is a dangerous sign," Cradduck said. "When you start seeing that, it means they are sending messages to each other. I hate to think of the day these two groups meet. Someone will end up dead. "We either take it seriously now, or we’ll regret it 10 years from now," he said.
Cradduck said that gangs are known to be involved in drug activity and violence against rival gangs.
A group of community leaders will meet Tuesday to discuss ways to reach out to the Hispanic community. Eventually, they hope to open the meetings up to the public for more input. Cesar Aguilar, director for the Rogers Community Center, said he decided to form a committee to look at Rogers’ gang problem after seeing Cradduck’s presentation on local gang activity. "I got really concerned because it could be dangerous for kids," Aguilar said. "For a long time, I thought it was just kids being kids. We want to do this because we need to create more awareness."
Aguilar said the committee will be made up of community leaders, school officials, religious representatives, people in the Hispanic community and law enforcement. Cradduck said police started seeing examples of gang graffiti several years ago, but it’s been on the increase in the last year. Police have identified graffiti from at least four different gangs with mostly Hispanic members, he said.
Police have identified graffiti from the Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, 18th Street, Surenos 13 and Brown Pride gangs, he said. "At first, the graffiti wasn’t what you consider traditional hard-core graffiti," Cradduck said. "But now they’re more hateful towards each other. You’re not seeing these little loosely organized kids who consider themselves gang members."
Cradduck and other police officers have started talking to school officials and community leaders about gangs and the importance of looking out for possible signs of gang activity. In the past few years, they’ve confiscated artwork and homework decorated with known gang symbols. "The graffiti is not a cultural issue, it’s a community issue," Cradduck said. [...]
Steve Nawojczyk, a gang expert based in North Little Rock, said Rogers officials are forward-thinking to make an effort to curb the gang problem early on. Officials in Little Rock "buried their heads in the sand" in the late 1980s when evidence of black gang graffiti started showing up on the streets, he said. "They acted like it wasn’t a problem until we had a murder rate that was higher per capita than many larger cities," Nawojczyk said.
Once a community sees gang graffiti on their streets, it’s important for law enforcement to come in and document the writings and then have them removed, Nawojczyk said. In Rogers, the city cleans up any graffiti on public buildings but leaves cleanup on privately owned buildings to the owners.
Nawojczyk said graffiti is just the beginning to what could happen if nothing is done. "The very next step is violence," Nawojczyk said.
This story was published Sunday, June 12, 2005
posted by Steve Nawojczyk at 5:02 AM
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