Garden State Gangstas- from The Trenton Times
Survey: Gangs entrenched
Friday, July 01, 2005
By KEVIN SHEA Staff Writer
It's not a new development, but it is a growing problem: Criminal street gangs have become entrenched in New Jersey, their numbers are rising and they present a serious threat to public safety.
A New Jersey State Police survey of nearly every municipal police department in the Garden State was unveiled yesterday, providing statistical teeth to and a sobering profile of how many criminal street gangs there are, their location and how they operate.
The survey indicates about 16,700 street gang members are operating in New Jersey in about 700 different gangs. The well-known Bloods, Latin Kings and Crips make up the three largest populations, and those three gangs alone make up over half, 51 percent, of the estimated statewide gang population.
The gangs infect every type of community, from urban cities like Trenton to rich suburbs like Princeton and smaller, formerly rural hubs like Hightstown.
Of the 16,700-member gang population, an estimated 2,300 are under the age 15. And about 17 percent of all reported homicides in the state involve gang members.
In Mercer County, the survey says, about 900 gang members operate in 23 distinct gangs. And the county mirrors the state, with police reporting the Bloods, Crips and Latin Kings most frequently.
State Attorney General Peter Harvey and state police Col. Rick Fuentes offered comments on what needs to be done to combat gangs, and two doctors who spoke with them offered a view of the gangs from outside the law enforcement community.
Choosing the gang life - or "thug life," as one called it - will only end with instances of fatal gunshot wounds, paralyzing injuries, prison terms and ruined families and communities.
"The report is out," emergency room physician Dr. Duane Dyson said at the survey's unveiling. "And I've never been more in disgust or seen more despair since the crack wars of the 1980s."
"This is a public health emergency," said Dr. Robert Johnson, director of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
-- -- --
No teenager is immune from the grasp of street gangs, and no young person is bulletproof once they are in a gang, they said, suggesting the problem must be recognized in the education, community and health-care arenas.
"Our focus should be on prevention," said Dyson, chairman of the Violence Prevention Institute in East Orange. Emergency room physicians, Dyson said, are busy enough dealing with heart attacks and strokes.
Dyson said he would like to stop having to say to parents: "Your son has died of a gunshot wound."
There may not be a quick solution, Dyson and Johnson said, but dealing with gangs must become a statewide priority. "This took a generation to get here, and it could take a generation to turn it around," Dyson said.
Johnson said he wished he could inoculate children against gang involvement, but no such shot exists. "We need to strengthen families and strengthen communities. Stepped-up enforcement efforts alone, no matter how vigorous or well-intended, will not get the job done."
From his office down to the level of a local police department, authorities are developing programs designed to offer children alternatives to gangs, some of which are making a difference, Harvey said.
But despite the programs and the successful arrest and prosecution of gang members who commit crimes, the number of gangsters is on the rise. "New Jersey continues to have a significant problem with street gangs and related community violence," Harvey said.
Other highlights of the report, conducted in 2004 and completed by 91 percent of the 479 municipalities that have a full-time police department:
-- In 44 percent of the municipalities in which an active street gang presence was reported, gang activity was reported by police to have increased compared to the previous year.
-- In 37 percent of the municipalities reporting no street gang presence during a similar survey done in 2001, gang activity is now taking place.
-- In 39 percent of responding suburban municipalities, police reported the presence of gangs, an increase of 27 percent compared to the 2001 survey.
-- -- --
In Mercer County, half of the 10 towns that participated in the survey reported a gang presence: Trenton, Ewing, Lawrence, Hightstown and Princeton Borough.
Those reporting no gang presence were East Windsor, Hopewell Township, Pennington, Princeton Township and West Windsor.
Hopewell Borough, which is patrolled by Hopewell Township police, was not surveyed, and Hamilton and Washington townships did not respond to the survey, the state police said.
Hamilton was listed in the report as the most populous municipality in the state not to participate, but a Hamilton police spokesman insisted the agency did send in the survey.
In 2003, three homicides in Mercer County were labeled as gang-related, the survey said. And four of the 10 participating departments also reported gang-related incidents in their schools: Trenton, Princeton Borough, Hightstown and Ewing.
The Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings, 18th Street Gang, Five Percenters and the Pagans motorcycle gang all have multiple chapters, the survey said. But 17 gangs are listed as solo and they have a variety of names.
Some are well-documented, such as Neta, the Salvadoran gang MS-13, the Breed motorcycle gang and the White Diamonds, a Trenton gang. Other Mercer gangs include Black Top, Boon Dog Outlaws, Hava-stack, Two Guns Up, and Vatos Locos.
-- -- --
The state police yesterday announced one plan. Noting in the survey that many police departments report more of a gang presence but only about 25 percent have a database to track them, Fuentes said the state police would bolster its intelligence efforts and local police will have access to that information.
Fuentes has transferred 20 troopers into an intelligence unit where most will work in the Regional Intelligence and Operations Center, known as "The Rock," at the Ewing headquarters.
The center, which went online in February as a pilot program, blends criminal intelligence reports and other information for officers on the street.
By August, every law enforcement officer in the state will be able to access The Rock, even as they pursue a car on the highway. The center currently includes more than 15,000 state police gang intelligence reports, and local police will be able to send intelligence they gather back into The Rock.
"And that's huge, in terms of intelligence," Fuentes said. "It's going to connect the dots on gangs, and we think it's going to save lives."
NOTE: Contact Kevin Shea at kshea@njtimes.com or at (609) 989-5699.
© 2005 The Times of Trenton
Friday, July 01, 2005
By KEVIN SHEA Staff Writer
It's not a new development, but it is a growing problem: Criminal street gangs have become entrenched in New Jersey, their numbers are rising and they present a serious threat to public safety.
A New Jersey State Police survey of nearly every municipal police department in the Garden State was unveiled yesterday, providing statistical teeth to and a sobering profile of how many criminal street gangs there are, their location and how they operate.
The survey indicates about 16,700 street gang members are operating in New Jersey in about 700 different gangs. The well-known Bloods, Latin Kings and Crips make up the three largest populations, and those three gangs alone make up over half, 51 percent, of the estimated statewide gang population.
The gangs infect every type of community, from urban cities like Trenton to rich suburbs like Princeton and smaller, formerly rural hubs like Hightstown.
Of the 16,700-member gang population, an estimated 2,300 are under the age 15. And about 17 percent of all reported homicides in the state involve gang members.
In Mercer County, the survey says, about 900 gang members operate in 23 distinct gangs. And the county mirrors the state, with police reporting the Bloods, Crips and Latin Kings most frequently.
State Attorney General Peter Harvey and state police Col. Rick Fuentes offered comments on what needs to be done to combat gangs, and two doctors who spoke with them offered a view of the gangs from outside the law enforcement community.
Choosing the gang life - or "thug life," as one called it - will only end with instances of fatal gunshot wounds, paralyzing injuries, prison terms and ruined families and communities.
"The report is out," emergency room physician Dr. Duane Dyson said at the survey's unveiling. "And I've never been more in disgust or seen more despair since the crack wars of the 1980s."
"This is a public health emergency," said Dr. Robert Johnson, director of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
-- -- --
No teenager is immune from the grasp of street gangs, and no young person is bulletproof once they are in a gang, they said, suggesting the problem must be recognized in the education, community and health-care arenas.
"Our focus should be on prevention," said Dyson, chairman of the Violence Prevention Institute in East Orange. Emergency room physicians, Dyson said, are busy enough dealing with heart attacks and strokes.
Dyson said he would like to stop having to say to parents: "Your son has died of a gunshot wound."
There may not be a quick solution, Dyson and Johnson said, but dealing with gangs must become a statewide priority. "This took a generation to get here, and it could take a generation to turn it around," Dyson said.
Johnson said he wished he could inoculate children against gang involvement, but no such shot exists. "We need to strengthen families and strengthen communities. Stepped-up enforcement efforts alone, no matter how vigorous or well-intended, will not get the job done."
From his office down to the level of a local police department, authorities are developing programs designed to offer children alternatives to gangs, some of which are making a difference, Harvey said.
But despite the programs and the successful arrest and prosecution of gang members who commit crimes, the number of gangsters is on the rise. "New Jersey continues to have a significant problem with street gangs and related community violence," Harvey said.
Other highlights of the report, conducted in 2004 and completed by 91 percent of the 479 municipalities that have a full-time police department:
-- In 44 percent of the municipalities in which an active street gang presence was reported, gang activity was reported by police to have increased compared to the previous year.
-- In 37 percent of the municipalities reporting no street gang presence during a similar survey done in 2001, gang activity is now taking place.
-- In 39 percent of responding suburban municipalities, police reported the presence of gangs, an increase of 27 percent compared to the 2001 survey.
-- -- --
In Mercer County, half of the 10 towns that participated in the survey reported a gang presence: Trenton, Ewing, Lawrence, Hightstown and Princeton Borough.
Those reporting no gang presence were East Windsor, Hopewell Township, Pennington, Princeton Township and West Windsor.
Hopewell Borough, which is patrolled by Hopewell Township police, was not surveyed, and Hamilton and Washington townships did not respond to the survey, the state police said.
Hamilton was listed in the report as the most populous municipality in the state not to participate, but a Hamilton police spokesman insisted the agency did send in the survey.
In 2003, three homicides in Mercer County were labeled as gang-related, the survey said. And four of the 10 participating departments also reported gang-related incidents in their schools: Trenton, Princeton Borough, Hightstown and Ewing.
The Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings, 18th Street Gang, Five Percenters and the Pagans motorcycle gang all have multiple chapters, the survey said. But 17 gangs are listed as solo and they have a variety of names.
Some are well-documented, such as Neta, the Salvadoran gang MS-13, the Breed motorcycle gang and the White Diamonds, a Trenton gang. Other Mercer gangs include Black Top, Boon Dog Outlaws, Hava-stack, Two Guns Up, and Vatos Locos.
-- -- --
The state police yesterday announced one plan. Noting in the survey that many police departments report more of a gang presence but only about 25 percent have a database to track them, Fuentes said the state police would bolster its intelligence efforts and local police will have access to that information.
Fuentes has transferred 20 troopers into an intelligence unit where most will work in the Regional Intelligence and Operations Center, known as "The Rock," at the Ewing headquarters.
The center, which went online in February as a pilot program, blends criminal intelligence reports and other information for officers on the street.
By August, every law enforcement officer in the state will be able to access The Rock, even as they pursue a car on the highway. The center currently includes more than 15,000 state police gang intelligence reports, and local police will be able to send intelligence they gather back into The Rock.
"And that's huge, in terms of intelligence," Fuentes said. "It's going to connect the dots on gangs, and we think it's going to save lives."
NOTE: Contact Kevin Shea at kshea@njtimes.com or at (609) 989-5699.
© 2005 The Times of Trenton
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