ROGERS -- A recent rash of graffiti painted on walls and fences in Rogers does not mean that gang activity is prevalent, a police detective said.

"There may be an intention to want to be in a gang, but the graffiti might mean something totally different to the person," Det. Hayes Minor said.

Lt. Dennis Spradlin of the Bentonville police agrees.

"We've had some spray painting, but that's about the end of it. We don't have any well-organized gangs, none that have been around for awhile," Spradlin said.

Minor believes there is a gang presence in Rogers, but he said there is no organized effort to recruit members.

Minor, who has studied gang culture and activity in Chicago, said the gangs in Rogers are not at all like big city organizations.

"In Chicago, there is a hierarchy of gangs. Each gang handles a specific role like enforcement, or dealing drugs. There is nothing like that here. The guys that talk to me are not the real thing," he said.

In the '90s, about 25 to 30 gang members from Los Angeles moved to Rogers and tried to start an organization, according to Minor.

"It was the only time that the stereotypical gang came into Rogers," he said. "They were somewhat organized, but not like the big city gangs who have dues, meetings and strategy sessions."

Officials in many cities deny they have a gang problem, Minor said, because it's bad for business and bad for tourism.

Steve Nawojczyk, the director of youth studies for the mayor of North Little Rock, and an expert on gang culture, said that denial is the worst thing a city can do when faced with gangs.

"The lack of intervention is dangerous. Kids seek identity and acceptance, and when a city doesn't provide activities, the kids are drawn to the gangs to get that acceptance," said Nawojczyk.

Minor credits community involvement with stopping gangs in Rogers.

"We took the total opposite approach. We told the community about the problem. We took them on and we won," he said.

Since then, gang behavior has changed, Minor said. Gang members stopped publicly identifying themselves, and they don't wear colors, paint graffiti or flash hand signs.

Nawojczyk said that gangs have stopped calling themselves gangs. They now use the words posse, cliques and crews.

"It's a lot more difficult for police to identify gang members now," Minor said.

There is still the danger of young people wanting to join gangs. To combat that, the Rogers School District took a zero-tolerance stance regarding wearing certain clothes and drawing signs and symbols on books. Police also go to schools and lecture children on gang activity and culture.

Spradlin said that the juvenile authorities have been "super" in working with police officers.

"That usually breaks up that little cell, and everything is fine until somebody starts another one," Spradlin said.

Having after-school activities, in-school education, mentoring and community-oriented policing are keys to keeping gangs out of a city, said Nawojczyk.

"You have to balance police and intervention to get results," he said.

Minor is proud that Rogers has taken such a direct approach to the gang problem.

"Rogers stands a good chance of being gang free. We were very successful in putting down one small gang. For a town this size, it is pretty amazing," Minor said.

John Gore contributed to this story