MELISSA MANWARE- A Mount Holly cop shot during a traffic stop. A deadly shootout on Independence Boulevard, another on North Tryon. A woman raped. Dozens of people robbed or assaulted.
Police have linked Charlotte gangs to all those crimes this year. And hundreds of others.
In the past two years, police in Charlotte have created a gang intelligence unit, assigned patrol officers to specialize in neighborhood gang issues, and begun a prevention program.
Federal prosecutors formed a task force. Authorities deported about 150 Charlotte gang members in the country illegally.
But the problems persist.
Just this week, authorities said a Charlotte man charged with murder in a botched Iredell County robbery attempt claimed to be a Crip. Hidden Valley Kings took part in last week’s midday fight at Eastland Mall and a fatal gunfight on North Tryon six hours later.
Police Chief Darrel Stephens told the Observer on Wednesday he believes the problem would be “much worse” if leaders hadn’t taken the steps they already have. But many of those initiatives are funded by grants, he said, and will end when the money runs out.
More must be done, he said, to get young people involved in after-school study groups, part-time jobs and recreational activities.
“The breeding ground for gangs is non-supervised out of school time,” he said in an e-mail to the Observer. Young people, he said, are at risk for gangs when they are “looking for companionship and substitutes for engaged parents.”
Police in Charlotte have identified 71 gangs, the largest being MS 13, Kings, Crips and Bloods. Officers documented about 850 gang members in Charlotte-Mecklenburg but believe as many as 1,300 could be active.
Through July 11, police had traced 407 crimes to gangs this year. They include everything from homicide to shoplifting. More were for vandalism than anything else.
Gang members have mostly targeted each other, said Capt. Eddie Levins, who oversees the gang intelligence unit.
“The dangerous part of that is that innocent people will get in the crossfire from time to time,” he said.
Levins said the gang intelligence unit includes one sergeant and two detectives, though others have been recruited to help. The chief asked the City Council for money to hire two more gang detectives this year but got less than he sought. Stephens opted to use the money for patrol officers.
Stephens said he will ask the council again to fund gang detectives, but his highest priority is ensuring the city has enough patrol officers to deal with growth.
Most of Charlotte’s gang members are between 16 and 24. Police have focused their prevention efforts at school-age kids and asked parents to get involved.
“I think (people) really need to be vigilant at home and in the schools to identify and confront gang issues everywhere they are,” Levins said.
“I think a lot of parents are in denial about whether their kids are in gangs or not. They’ve got to educate themselves on what the gang signs are. When a kid is drawing pitchforks and writing Crip killer on notebooks, that is a bad thing.”
Need More Info?
In February 2004, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police created Gang of One, a program to help young people avoid gangs or escape them. It connects families with resources such as after-school programs, sports leagues and tutoring.
Call Gang of One at (704) 432-GANG -- (704) 432-4264 -- or go to www.gangofone.org (http://www.gangofone.org) .
Charlotte Observer (http://www.charlotte.com/)