Gangs a threat to S.C., but tide may be shifting

By Nathan Rosenberger
Guest contributor

COLUMBIA, SC  – Gangs and gang-related violence are a growing problem in S.C. When-and-how the tide of gang activity will be stemmed seems to be anyone’s guess. But gang culture may be shifting, and law enforcement officers are encouraged by the possibility of that shift.

Last month, the Charleston City Paper reported, “From 2000 to 2010, Columbia, S.C. was plagued with one of the deadliest gang feuds in history between the Gangster Killer Bloods, Gangster Disciples, and Insane Crip Nation. Gang violence was at an all-time high with South Carolina ranked first in violent crime for 10 years straight.” And in a Jan. 2014 interview for the State newspaper, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said, “This [last] summer was horrendous. [During this period] we saw the gangs go crazy like we did in the early 2000s.”

The numbers and expressed concerns indicate the problem of gangs doesn’t get any better nationally. According to FBI.gov (the FBI’s official website) there are approximately 1.4-million active gang-members, composing more than 33,000 gangs in the U.S. Additionally, gang membership has recently increased – most significantly – in the northeast and southeast regions of the country with major metropolitan and suburban areas experiencing the most gang-related violence say experts.

Beginning 2001 and continuing through 2007, central S.C. experienced a wave of street gang activity, says Lt. Vincent Goggins, with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s Gang Task Force. “Peak years [for us countywide],” he says.

But it’s not simply the streets of the inner-cities and suburban neighborhoods experiencing gang problems. Schools within these areas have emerged as veritable hubs of both known and unknown gang activity.

“Young people, students, were joining – I believe – primarily because [gangs] were somewhat new to the area,” adds Goggins, who served as a Midlands-area school resource officer for approximately eight years prior to transferring to the gang unit. Many students joined for what they perceived to be “the glamorization behind it.”

Fortunately, Goggins believes – as do most school administrators, he says – we may be witnessing a decrease in gang-membership numbers as the idea of becoming a gang member is “less cool.” Students choosing to join today (as opposed to six years ago when it was “cool”) are making a conscious decision not simply to join a gang, but to join just to “live the [gang] lifestyle.” That lifestyle has nothing to offer, making it easier for those in the prevention business to persuade teenagers not to join.

There are three types of gangs: traditional, nontraditional, and hybrid. Traditional gangs are those with a traceable history (i.e. those with a strong gang-lineages in large cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles). Nontraditional gangs often adopt the names of traditional gangs. They may or may not have ties to one another. Hybrid gangs typically adopt the name of a neighborhood, street, or group. Hybrid gangs are often made up of several gangs in a specific area. They often refer to themselves as “cliques” and will deny being a gang.

In the past, when identifying gang members, police officers primarily looked for colors. Today, they look for identifying-tattoos, skin-brands, or perhaps a specific bandanna in the pocket, folded and creased a certain number of times. “There are other identifiers, but the aforementioned are clear cut,” says Goggins.

One obstacle in dealing with gangs is that they are as diverse as the community, making it difficult to pinpoint where the major gang-activity is.

Gangs are involved in a variety of crimes in different places. Gangs are responsible for an average of 48 percent of all violent crime in most jurisdictions and up to 90 percent elsewhere, according to National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) analysis. “Gang activity may be occurring in one community today, and a completely different community tomorrow,” says Goggins.

The key is stopping the teenager from joining a gang on the front end. Police contend they may have a good handle on gang prevention with several prevention programs in place. Among those active programs are The Ready Program, Crossroads Tour, and Next Step.

The Ready Program offers troubled teens an opportunity to experience an overnight stay in jail. The Crossroads Tour includes a prison visit, a coroner’s presentation, and a courtroom presentation. The Next Step program assists the entire family with support and parenting skills and other support mechanisms with and for kids involved in gang-activity and other misbehaviors.

The Gang Unit often speaks with kids and their parents about making the right choices and educating them about street gangs, Goggins says, adding, “Education is key.”

School Resource Officers teach a national-based curriculum in middle schools – Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) – aimed at deterring youth from street gangs. Another gang prevention technique is partnering with the state and federal agencies to conduct long term investigations, even wire taps, on street gangs. This approach has typically led to results wherein several gang-members were arrested, were given lengthy prison sentences, and the gang itself was eliminated.

Goggins says law enforcement agencies do not single out gangs by name. “We do not post names, because gang members see it as glorification,” he says.

Gangs are indeed a problem and will continue to be. But there may be proverbial daylight ahead. Despite the less-than-encouraging gang-membership and violence numbers; efforts to quash the so-called “glorification” of gangs – thus eliminating the mystique of life in a gang – greater opportunities and better anti-gang education for young people, greater public awareness, and a stark awareness among teenagers as to the real dangers and consequences from being a gang-member or gang affiliate, the death knell for gangs may indeed be sounding.
 

– Nathan Rosenberger is a student at Westwood High School (Blythewood, S.C.). He wrote this piece as part of a summer project while attending the Northeast Arts Academy in Columbia.