By Todd South
Chattanooga Times Free Press
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Like an infection, criminal gang activity can grow under the surface of a community, officials say, and if not watched carefully, symptoms such as graffiti, hand signs and group colors can turn into real trouble.
Over the last four years, Deputy Willie Espinoza has kept a wary eye on groups in Bradley County. He’s filled a log of more than 250 criminals with gang affiliation booked into the county jail. In the process, he built ties with police in Chattanooga and Dalton, Ga., who see similar gang patterns.
“It’s here, it’s beginning and we’re starting to see more (gang activity) going on,” Deputy Espinoza said.
Beginning next year, Deputy Espinoza, a patrol deputy who works gangs on top of his regular shift work, said the department will track gang-related crime numbers. For the last few years, simply learning which gangs were in the area, where they traveled and what type of crimes they were involved with took up most of his time.
COPYCATS OR CRIMINALS
Groups in Bradley County and the surrounding areas range from copycats or offshoots of the notorious Crips and Bloods that originated in Southern California to Latino gangs such as the Surenos 13, a California-based prison gang. Deputy Espinoza said he’s also seen the Aryan Brotherhood, a racist white power group, in the area.
Deputy Espinoza and Bradley County Sheriff Tim Gobble stress that gang presence is not an epidemic. But while many of the groups are local upstarts that simply may have adopted the name of a popular gang, some deserve attention because they’re connected with serious organizations and traffic guns or drugs through the area on their way to and from Atlanta.
For that reason, communication among departments is vital, Deputy Espinoza said.
Sgt. Todd Royval, who works gangs for the Chattanooga Police Department, said there’s no county or state line or city limits for gang activity. If Sgt. Royval arrests someone with a Bradley County address, he calls Deputy Espinoza.
PREVENTION GOAL
And like a disease, prevention is the best medicine, officers said.
“The whole key to all of this is getting to these kids early and surrounding them with services to prevent them from getting involved with gangs,” said Joe Smith, a program director for Y-CAP, a YMCA-based early intervention program for at-risk kids.
The program has been active in Chattanooga for 10 years and in Bradley County for six, Mr. Smith said.
“We kind of stick our heads in the sand and say, ‘We don’t have a gang problem in Chattanooga or Bradley,’” he said.
“Well, we do.”
Copyright 2008 Chattanooga Times Free Press