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STREET GANGS: A Growing Dilemma
Students hang out at Lincoln Northeast High School shortly before being dispersed by the police. Authorities recognize “saaciin’.” or wearina
baggy pants low on the hips, as a possible sign of gang association. y
Gangs
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thought we would be the only city in
the United States that resisted a cul
tural trend.”
Police have made no arrests in the
November shooting. The teen-age
victim, who was not struck, said a
gang member fired the shots.
In 1994, Lincoln police began in
vestigating the link between crimes
and gangs. Since then, more than 23
different gangs — and 300 members
— are estimated to be active in
Nebraska’s Capital City. However,
law enforcement sources say at least
twice as many youth could be in
volved in gangs.
ine nationwide gang epidemic
affects more than metropolitan cities
with squalid ghettos. It affects me
dium- and small-town cities alike.
The National Drug Intelligence
Center in Johnston, Pa., which tracks
gang activity, says small cities are
prime targets for gang organization.
By the time many communities ad
mit they have a gang problem, the
situation may be out of control.
The intelligence center, a branch
of the U.S. Department of Justice,
says smaller communities — similar
to Lincoln — are attractive locations
for street gang members because:
• Families can relocate without
great expense.
• uang members can avoid appre
hension and prosecution from their
own cities.
• They escape retaliation from ri
val gang members.
• The cities offer new criminal
markets with higher illegal profits and
less gang rivalry and competition.
Local police don’t deny that Lin
coln fits many lines of that descrip
tion. Interstate 80 and nearby Omaha
and Kansas City also could feed gang
activity here.
But Casady says Lincoln has many
qualities that gangs would find unat
tractive, including:
• No public housing projects. All
government-subsidized housing is
done through rent vouchers all across
the city.
• No suburbs. The city is self-con
tained and not designed for higher or
lower rents in suburban areas.
• Low employment rate.
• A healthy and stable economy.
• A high number of people who
own homes.
“Lincoln is a different commu
nity,” the police chief said, “but I’m
unclear in my own mind why we
haven’t been targeted a§ a good place
to practice crime.”
Gs or wannabes
More than half of the self-admit
ted gang members in Lincoln are clas
sified as “wannabes.” They wear the
same colors and flash the same signs,
but don’t commit serious crimes.
Nationally, police departments don’t
take poseurs lightly, and are encour
aged not to use the misleading
“wannabe” term.
“Some people seem to think that
our gang problem here is minor be
cause most of the people think our
gangs are wannabes ” Casady said.
“I’m not particularly comfortable
with that. If junior high kids start
identifying with gang behavior and
gang dress, then I think we have a
problem.”
‘ Curtis, a 16-year-old Crip, said
Lincoln streets are filled with
wannabes. They claim blue one day
and red the next. These kids aren’t
dangerous, he said.
“There are some that act hard, but
they are soft as medicated cotton,”
Curtis said in an interview at the At
tention Center, the city’s only juve
nile jail. “They just let their strap do
the talking.”
A strap — or gat — is a gangster’s
weapon. A semiautomatic pistol, usu
ally a 9mm, is the gun of choice. Most
gang members don’t regularly use
assault-style weapons, according to
the drug intelligence center. But if a
fight breaks out, a tougher armory is
only a short drive away.
“I ain’t scared of shooting some
one at all,” Curtis said. “Period.”
It’s hard to distinguish reality from
the talk on the street. There were
about 10 drive-by shootings reported
to police within the last year. Police
suspect there are more, because drive
by shootings are not uniformly clas
sified.
The majority of gang-related
crimes come from thefts of parked
cars. During summer months, thugs
go from neighborhood to neighbor
hood.
“We don’t want to have people
getting shot,” said Sgt. Larry Nelson,
who tracks the city’s gang activity.
“The loss of a loved one is much
harder to deal with than losing a ste
reo.”
A different gang
“Gang” has become a four-letter
buzz word.
Through violent television docu
mentaries, rap music and movies, the
popular media has absorbed itself in
this culture. However, all gangs are
not as similar as they appear on MTV.
One gang that looks different, acts
different and has deep-rooted national
ties concerns one veteran Lincoln
police detective more than the tradi
tional street gangs.
Sgt. Jim Breen, who has worked
on the force 24 years, said Lincoln is
an open target for the Big Circle Boys,
an organized crime gang from Orange
County, California. The nationally
known Asian crime gang has already
struck at least once in Lincoln, Breen
said.
Lincoln police and federal authori
ties broke a Big Circle Boys crime
ring in the summer of 1994. The gang
selects local residents looking for
money, and has them purchase mer
chandise with fake or stolen credit
cards.
“It s money that can be made more
easily than selling drugs,” Breen said.
Authorities in bordering states
electronically tracked a California
couple across the country into Ne
braska. As the man and woman came
into Nebraska, they pulled out bogus
credit cards and went shopping.
“We assumed they were moving
east on 1-80,” Breen said, because
fake cards were used for major pur
chases in Lexington and North Platte.
The pair was tracked to Lincoln by
their credit card transactions.
In shopping sprees in Utah, Colo
rado and Nebraska, the couple bought
laptop computers, a Nintendo Game
Boy and an electric razor. The mer
chandise — $60,000 worth — was
illegally sold for a large profit, Breen
said.
The Orange County pair were ar
rested with 30 fake credit cards, after
Lincoln police followed the two to
Omaha and California.
“Do you call these people mem
bers of street gangs or do you call
them members of organized crimes?”
Breen said. “The iines are beginning
to blur.”
This organized crime scares Breen
more than Lincoln’s leaderless street
gang dilemma. Economically, orga
nized Asian crime is much more se
rious.
“I’d be a lot more concerned about
the Big Circle Boys getting a foot
hold here than any street gang,” Breen
said. “The problems associated with
that would put us on a par with
Omaha.”
Most police officials are candid
about Lincoln’s emerging gang prob
lem. They can educate students and
parents, but the community also must
recognize and understand the prob
lem.
“Anyone who expects that the po
lice can control gang activity is
wrong,” the police chief said.
“There’s a limited amount in what we
can do, and we can’t do it alone. We
have a role to play, churches have a
role to play and families have a role
to play.”
There are no poster cities for gang
prevention. The key, experts say, is
recognizing that gangs exist. No cit
ies are exempt.
Police can police, teachers can
teach and preachers can preach — but
it does no good if no one in listening.
“It’s like any other social problem,
we see the scab,” said detective Breen,
“but what causes the injury we often
don’t have as much control over.”
Gang signs
Why people join gangs
% To get a sense of belonging, friendship, attention and love.
To feel self control.
To get a sense of direction and purpose is given to their lives.
To fullfill feelings of self worth, status, success, respect, recognition and
identity are fulfilled.
% To gain a sense of protection.
To gain material things: money, guns, women, expensive jewelry,
and nice clothes.
Gang members' mentality
^ The highest honor that can be given to their gang is death.
V The only people who really love them are members of their gang.
^ They must always strike back at those who harm them.
. ^ They never show:
• Remorse.
• A sense of right and wrong.
• Interest in other people.
• Compassion for others.
Warning signs for parents
^ Notice if your child is draped in expensive jewelry.
If their pants are sagging on or below their hips.
^ Withdraw from their family members.
Using a new street nickname.
Having tattoos of gang names or insignias.
Graffiti on their clothes, notebooks or other items.
Source: Omaha Police Department Aaron Steckelberg/DN
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