Some Insight and Thoughts

In my last post I talked about a very specific gang.. so I just want to start off this post by listing some of the other gangs I’ve found that exist here in Ohio through my research…

• West Side Rollin 20’s Neighborhood Bloods
• Sex Money Murder Bloods
• Bounty Hunter Bloods
• M.o.b. Pirus(Piru gang)-affiliated with the Bloods gang.
• Elm Street Pirus(Piru gang)-affiliated with the Bloods gang.
• Tree Top Pirus(Piru gang)-affiliated with the Bloods gang.
• East Side Long Beach Rollin 20’s Crips
• East Side Long Beach Insane Crips
• East Side Long Beach Asian Boyz Crips
• West Side Rollin 30’s Harlem Crips
• West Side Rollin 60’s Neighborhood Crips
• Gardena Shot Gun Crips
• Kelly Park Compton Crips
• Almighty Latin King & Queen Nation(People Nation gang)
• Almighty Black P. Stones Nation(People Nation gang)
• Almighty Vice Lords Nation(People Nation gang)
• Almighty Spanish Lords Nation(People Nation gang)
• Almighty Insane Latin Counts Nation(People Nation gang)
• Gangster Disciples Nation(Folk Nation gang)
• Insane Gangster Satan Disciples Nation(Folk Nation gang)
• Maniac Latin Disciples Nation(Folk Nation gang)
• Gangster Two Six Nation(Folk Nation gang)
• La Raza Nation(Folk Nation gang)
• Sureno’s(Mexican Mafia gang)-Mexican gang
• Norteno’s(Nuestra Familia gang)-Mexican gang
• Netas Association(Puerto Rican gang)
• Trinitarios(Dominican gang)
• Tiny Rascals Gang(Asian gang)
• Wah Ching(Chinese gang)

And this isn’t all of them. It really puts it into perspective just how bad the problem is, and how no one is aware of it. Before doing any research, I could not of named a single one of these street gangs. Sometimes you have to shock people to get their attention… so here is a gunfight that happened in a bar in Toledo. Yes, these men thought it was a smart idea to bring their guns to a bar. Anyone with common sense knows that bars are hot-spots for confrontation and conflict.

It is unknown which two gangs are in conflict here, and it isn’t clearly announced that there are any gangs in this footage. I think we can all assume that there are, just by watching it.

This isn’t just a problem in certain areas of Ohio. Every time I search the internet I find a new Ohio town that is infested with violence that is linked to gang activity. It absolutely wows me.

Is there any way to stop these types of tragic events? The situation might be too out of control at this point. It’s sad to see that people could have been in the crossfire. A legit business will probably be ended over this too. No one will want to go back to a bar at which they witnessed a shootout.

Guns are already a problem on the streets IF they’re in the wrong hands. That factor is multiplied as soon as that person steps indoor. The chance of an innocent being injured or killed goes way up. How can we keep guns out of places like this? A “NO FIREARMS” sign isn’t going to work.

In my opinion we need harsher sentences. As soon as you open fire and put other people in danger like the idiots up above, you should be locked away for good. Now I’m not saying in the case of someone defending themselves should they be locked away… not at all… but it’s quite obvious that if you go into a bar with a gun in your waistband that you have intent on making a statement. They didn’t bring the gun to defend themselves. They brought it because they knew there might be a chance that things would become heated.

The Dayton View Hustlers

The Dayton View Hustlers are a street gang with a sophisticated organizational style that divides members into specialized shooters, robbers, and street dealers.

The 100-member group holds influence in their namesake Dayton View neighborhood — a large section of the city extending west from the Great Miami River and bound by Salem Avenue and Wolf Creek.

The DVH are well established and already into their third generation of members. They are great recruiters, and quickly find replacements for those whom end up in jail… or dead.

While the Hustlers remain, a law-enforcement campaign that began in 2008 is credited with sharply reducing local street homicides and gun-play  It also led to federal prosecutions that leveled two outfits — Diamond Cut and Dope Boy Mafia, both associated with street crime. The key success is a close working relationship among the FBI and local agencies. The community must also want to rid their neighborhoods of these gangs, and furthermore cooperate with authorities in their tracking down of gang members and/or their areas of operation.

Problems in Nearby Chicago

Violence and gangs in Chicago have been a hot topic recently. Even more specifically are the tragedies at William R. Harper High School. Over the past year 29 students there have been victims of shootings, and eight of them have died. The multitude of factions around the Chicago school have grown. Students report that in the past students that took part in athletics or were more successful academically were left alone by these violent-prone groups, but this has changed. Now students are saying that no matter who you are, you are automatically chosen by these territorial gangs, and you even have to walk to school with them. Innocent kids are being forced into the middle of violence that they want no part of.

But visitors of this school don’t see what’s happening in the backdrop. It’s a fun, happy school where teachers and staff try to give their students guidance.

Now I don’t watch the news much these days, but my most prominent memories of watching the news have been stories about guns and shootings in schools around the central Ohio area. A lot of the schools also seemed to be similar to Harper High School. It’s debilitating that schools attract so much violence and hatred, but it does make sense that schools would be a prime area for gangs looking to recruit new members.

I feel this is why we need stronger law enforcement occupancy around school grounds. Exposing this issue is going to help, but not nearly enough. I also feel that these schools need to cut down or totally eliminate extra-curricular activities. Honestly, what is more important? Having a homecoming dance and risking kids lives (violence is much more common during these events), or just saying “Another life injured or lost is just not worth it.” When the violence is this extreme, for example how it is at Harper High School, times at which students are on campus need to become a lot more limited. Even assuring that students are making their way to and from school during daylight hours only should improve the situation.

Stricter gun laws aren’t going to help either. With the laws already in place these kids should not be in possession of any firearms. Long guns can only be purchased if the individual is 18 or older, but it’s hard to imagine that these kids are shooting at each other with those. They are most likely weapons that can be concealed: handguns. That means that firearms are being obtained illegally by the members of these gangs.

Origination of Ohio Street Gangs

When we see or hear the word “gang”, we almost always associate it with criminal activity. If one were to ask a random individual on the street how they thought a gang started, they would probably reply “Well, they started in an area of poverty, where multiple criminals decided to join up and look out for and benefit each other.”

In most cases, that person would be wrong. In fact, C. Ronald Huff, a professor at the School of Social Ecology, held a study in the late 1980’s that focused on this topic.The research project included in-depth case studies of youth gangs in Cleveland and Columbus, as well as secondary surveys of Ohio’s five other large cities (Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton, Akron, and Youngstown). Huff interviewed gang members, former gang members, police officers,representatives of community and social service agencies, and school officials. He also observed police operations targeting youth gangs and youth violence, as well as the surveying of all 88 county juvenile courts in Ohio.

Huff concluded 3 things:

1. Breakdancing/“rappin”’ groups evolved into gangs as a result of intergroup conflict involving dancing, skating, and/or “rappin”’ competition.This competition would sometimes spill over into the parking lots of skating rinks, where members frequently had concealed weapons in their cars.

2. Street corner groups similarly evolved into gangs as a result of conflicts with other “corner groups.” These groups were more typical of distinctive, neighborhoods, such as housing projects. In Cleveland, these groups had a much longer history than in Columbus, although that history has been uneven. Nonetheless, both cities have histories of street corner groups and “street hustling” that predate the current generation of street gangs.

3. Street gang leaders already experienced in gang life moved to Ohio from Chicago or Los Angeles. These more sophisticated leaders were often charismatic figures who were able to quickly recruit a following from among local youths.

Gangs in Ohio Suburbs

Gangs are moving from urban areas to rural areas more and more every day. The movement of urban gang members to suburban areas results in some territorial conflicts between rival urban gang members moving into the area, in addition to some territorial conflicts with existing suburban gang members. The gang members whom migrated from urban areas often form new, neighborhood-based local gangs. Local gangs generally control their territories through violence and intimidation. In addition, they see fit to increase their size by recruiting new members, who are typically from single-parent, low-income households and who have a limited education. Local gangs engage in a wide range of criminal activity, including retail-level drug distribution.

You might be surprised to think of suburban gangs becoming more common than urban, but it’s definitely a reality. Suburbs are much easier to control when it comes to turf. Highways do not split turf or blur boundary lines in rural areas. Citizens are less aware, and authorities are less equipped and trained to deal with activity that once took place more often in cities than in quiet neighborhoods.

It is scary to think that a gang as problematic as the MS13 could be in your own neighborhood. The Obama administration declared war on the MS13 near the end of 2012, defining them as an “International Criminal Organization.”

Read more about the notorious MS13 gang here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/11/ms-13-street-gang_n_1957977.html

The Bloods and Crips

I’m sure most everyone is familiar with the presence of Bloods and Crips in Ohio. It seems that whenever the topic of “gangs” arises into discussion that those are the two gangs mentioned. Funny thing is… neither one originated in Ohio.

The Crips’s genesis was in 1960’s Los Angeles, and the Bloods were formed shortly after as a sort of ‘response’ to the formation of the Crips.The two gangs are predominantly African-American.

Since about the 1970’s there has been a strong rivalry between the two, so it’s no surprise that when one started migration to Ohio in the 1980’s, the other soon began to follow. It is generally unknown which gang entered Ohio first.

The Bloods and Crips can be identified by their colors: red and blue.

But why are they here? In a 2003 article published by the Lantern; a newspaper distributed by The Ohio State University, Assistant Prosecutor Dave DeVillers, who is the head of the gang unit of the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office, remembers the peak of gang activity in Columbus in 1995 and 1996.He has claimed that  the increase in gang activity had been because of people migrating from close, larger cities, such as Chicago and Detroit.

“The late 1980s brought an overwhelming increase in local drug trafficking, with gangs exporting crack cocaine and heroin from Columbus to cities such as Cincinnati and Portsmouth” – DeVillers

Drug trafficking, however, comes second to the firearms market. Guns are cheap in the Columbus area. Gangs can purchase guns locally and sell them over in other states, making a ridiculous amount of profit.

“A gun that costs $50 in Columbus is worth $1,200 in New York,” DeVillers said.

I’m sure that that was an exaggeration, but it doesn’t seem too illogical. While sifting through firearm store magazines in the past I’ve noted semi-automatic assault rifles in the range of $600 to $700. Some people will say “hey… that’s a good chunk of money though”, and it is, but not for something such as an assault rifle. I think we need to make some changes. Firearms such as these should have a minimum price requirement – a floor as you will – and that would possibly help drive away gangs involved in the firearm market.

Source: http://www.thelantern.com/2.1345/bloods-crips-infiltrate-ohio-1.91352#.UQs8Mb-eFAI

Why Do Gangs Exist in Ohio of All Places?

That’s a good question, and the first that comes to mind when observing the heightened gang activity that we’ve experienced over the past 20 to 30 years. What resources do we have that makes us such an attractive area for gangs such as the Bloods and Crips? They wouldn’t migrate from the West Coast all the way to the Midwest for nothing. Perhaps illegal drug distribution is an easy and profitable market here? It sure wouldn’t surprise me. This is one of many questions we will think about and attempt to answer.

Another that comes to mind: What is being done to try and push these gangs out of Ohio? Do we have task forces dedicated solely to bringing justice to gangs involved in criminal activity around the Cleveland and Cincinnati areas where it is highest? How about any laws put in place to deter criminal gang activity in general? Gangs work and associate in varieties of ways, and therefore must be dealt with accordingly. No one gang is identical to another.