gangs only exist where the parents allow them to. start with the parents.
Posted on 09/09/2007 6:59:40 AM PDT by Daveinyork
Sep 9, 2007 — It's not just the homicides that have York(PA) detectives working 60-hour weeks. It's not just the muggings - some with young culprits so brazen they'll beat people down and snatch their bags in broad daylight - that have city residents wary.
It's the crackle of gunfire and property damaged by flying bullets.
It's the beefs between gangs that put gang-bangers and their neighbors in danger.
For years, many denied York had a gang problem, and law enforcement programs to combat them lapsed. But the violence involving people ages 12 to 19 appears to have surged in York.
Some see it as a new problem. Others see it as years old.
Now, city officials are seeking money for new gang-prevention programs, and other efforts have been revived to try to shut down the violence.
The problem
A warm afternoon in March saw the 800 block of West Poplar Street filled with children playing outside. They kicked around a soccer ball and chased each other around cars on the crowded block.
On squealing tires, a white Geo Tracker and a silver Dodge Dynasty came around one corner and sped down the block. The riders peppered the block with gunshots, piercing houses, shattering car windows and denting utility poles.
The bullets also hit a 15-year-old in the stomach and a 16-year-old in the leg.
Kids who'd played on the block cowered. Then they came out as the block filled with police officers.
Roughly two weeks after the shooting, city police rounded up six teens between the ages of 15 and 17 and charged them with the shooting.
York County First Assistant District Attorney Bill Graff, referring to that and other incidents, said he can't remember a time in his more than 20 years as a prosecutor that he's seen so many young defendants charged with serious crimes.
“It's the gangs, plain and simple,” he said. “We're seeing more guns on the streets. We're taking more guns from young kids.”
York City Police Sgt. Craig Losty, head of the city's USA or Under Special Assignment Squad, said juvenile violence and gangs may seem new, but they have been a problem in York for years.
Before Wes Kahley became captain, he was tasked to work on the city's gang problem. After his promotion, the department didn't have the resources to devote to gangs, Losty said.
For the last year and a half, Losty's squad has built databases with dossiers on York's gangs and their members.
“It's not that a bunch of gang members came here recently,” Losty said. “They have been here since the 1990s.”
According to statistics filed with York's latest application for a federal Weed and Seed grant, York had 20 documented gangs in 2001. In 2007, there were 36.
Of about 1,600 students at William Penn High School, 120 were documented as gang members, according to the grant statistics.
Two August homicides - the deaths of Michael Concepcion, 25, and Theodore W. Valcarcel, 18 - were connected with a feud between two York gangs, authorities said.
Police quickly developed suspects in the killings, because many of the same players were involved in both cases, York City Police Lt. Ron Camacho said.
Statistics show that 21 of the 59 homicides in York from 1999 to 2005 were gang-related. York County Grant Coordinator Samantha Dorm, who compiled the statistics, said the number is likely to increase with the city's latest homicides.
Earlier this year, the city was also plagued with a number of assaults and robberies, some in broad daylight, and many that involved juvenile attackers.
One of the more troubling cases was when a retired school superintendent was badly beaten in a restroom at Farquhar Park during a concert performance. Camacho said investigators are still looking for three juveniles involved in the assault.
Losty said group attacks provide the juveniles with anonymity. They're often all dressed alike, which confuses victims and witnesses, he said.
Unlike adult offenders, juveniles are bolder with the crimes they commit, and they don't have the fear of getting caught or being penalized, Losty said.
Some solutions
To tackle the homicides and attacks related to gangs and juveniles, Camacho said city detectives have worked long hours and coordinated with the USA Squad, Major Crimes Unit and officers on patrol on the cases.
“It's especially difficult when homicides happen one on top of the other,” Camacho said, referring to four homicides that happened in York in the 10 days between Aug. 27 and Wednesday. Three of the four were drug-related, which adds another layer to the investigation, he said.
At least two of the deaths involved victims in their late teens and early 20s, according to data from York County Coroner's Office.
“Your regular, everyday person probably doesn't have to worry about being shot,” Camacho said. “If you're involved in gang-related crime or other illegal activity, you're putting your life in danger.”
Graff said the York County District Attorney's Office has offered its resources, including county detectives, to aid the city in homicide and other investigations.
As for money for law enforcement and community efforts to combat gangs, the city is preparing its application for a federal Weed and Seed grant - a federally funded program designed to catch criminals and revitalize neighborhoods.
The city is competing with others for $1 million during a five-year period. A state Weed and Seed grant currently covers an area from South George Street to South Pine Street and East College Avenue to East Boundary Avenue; the federal grant would expand that area to include most of the city. The application is due Sept. 13.
In November 2006, the “222 Corridor,” an anti-gang initiative, expanded to include to York and Dauphin counties. They joined six cities, two federal districts and Lancaster, Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties in the project, officials said.
The program takes its name from Route 222, a route that links the cities of York, Allentown, Lancaster and Harrisburg.
It's also a path with easy access to Interstate 78 that drug dealers and gang members use to transport drugs from larger cities to southcentral Pennsylvania.
The York County grant request indicates the money could go toward more truancy and curfew sweeps, and more nuisance abatement work. Groups that will be made up of local residents would decide on other uses for the money, which could include specific anti-gang programs.
Losty said he'd like to see the community become more educated about gangs and help police in prevention efforts. If he could, Losty would increase his squad to include at least two other officers who would focus full-time on gang work, he added.
The sergeant would also push for stiffer penalties for juveniles convicted of crimes. Perhaps if the teens knew the price would be high for committing a crime, it would be a deterrent, the sergeant said.
Graff said he doesn't think one thing will solve the gangs and juvenile violence problem, but in York and other areas, he said, it needs to be addressed.
“What we got is gangs of kids running around looking for trouble. We've got to have more programs to address this,” Graff said.
Reach Michele Canty at 771-2028 or mcanty@ydr.com.
Nah, nothing to do with illegal immigrunts, right?
“Losty said group attacks provide the juveniles with anonymity. They’re often all dressed alike, which confuses victims and witnesses, he said.”
This info stuck in my mind. I recently saw a cop show on television. In it the cops were using a bait car to get car thieves. Broad daylight, I forget where (but it does not matter). One of the cops commented on how in some neighborhoods young males will all dress alike, gang or not, just so if anyone has to run they can blend in quickly. In this particular case they were all wearing the usual very baggy blue jeans and xxx-large white tee shirts. And there were at least 6 in the general area of the car. Couple this along with the noncooperative attitude you will find on the street in many areas and you have a real problem.
“We’ve got to have more programs to address this,” Graff said.”
Ah-ha....evening basketball programs...No, wait, hip young social workers to go out on the street and “connect” with the young people, thus turning them around. Or how about a “Take back the night” candlelight vigil or two? Oh wow, how could I overlook the obvious old solution. Let’s throw more money at the problem. LOL!
gangs only exist where the parents allow them to. start with the parents.
What a revelation. If more armed law abiding Americans had guns, well, I’d say there would likely be less crime. If it me or the perp that survives, I will shoot first and answer questions later....
Those kids must be playing the odds that they won’t get caught based on their own perceptions.Of course, if the cops say that they all look alike, you know they are out of it. Try actually policing the neighborhoods to preserve the peace instead of hanging out at the Dunkin Donuts and waiting for a call.
Neck-stretching is a very effective cure for this problem.
Yep. Kids out all hours of the day and night.
Little or no parental supervision
Family time together???
Wow...sad.
But, of course, our enlightened ACLU lawyers and activist judges know better, and since they don't want us to protect ourselves either, we'll just have to hope the gangs have mercy on us, the law-abiding population.
Gangs are a direct result of the WOD and the enormous profits available from illicit drug sales. End the WOD and the gang problem will largely resolve itself.
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