Top Gang Related Stories of 2013
In last years Top Gang Related Stories, the theme was Social Media and it's implications on street gangs. In this years review of top stories the theme involves violence in communities across North America and how it effects them.
"Aurora reports no homicides for first time since 1946"
Aurora , IL -January 2, 2013 -For the first time in more than six decades, Aurora finished the year without a single homicide, after years of efforts by police and community groups to end violence between rival gangs in Illinois’ second-largest city. The western Chicago suburb, home to nearly 200,000 people, was homicide-free last year for the first time since 1946. “That’s amazing,” Aurora Police Chief Greg Thomas told The (Aurora) Beacon-News. “We went through a lot of stuff to get there.”Aurora struggled with gang violence beginning in the 1990s. The city’s homicides peaked at 26 in both 1995 and 1996. As recently as 2007, the city averaged more than one homicide per month.By comparison, Illinois’ third-largest city, Rockford, had 14 homicides in 2012. That was that city’s lowest number since 2004, when there were eight, the Rockford Register Star reported Wednesday. In Chicago, about 40 miles to the east of Aurora, homicides rose to 506 in 2012.
Source : Star Journal Register
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"8 Slain on B.C.'s Bloody Sunday"
British Columbia, Canada - January 13, 2013 - experienced an especially brutal day, Sunday was the most violent day in recent memory in B.C., with police in four communities investigating the deaths of eight people.
Three men were shot in Surrey in two separate incidents, two men were found dead in Hope, a man and woman were discovered dead in Vanderhoof and one man was fatally stabbed in Nanaimo. RCMP Supt. Brendan Fitzpatrick, with the E Division major crimes section, said it was a very busy weekend for police. "It's nothing that can't be handled at this point. We'll just respond accordingly," Fitzpatrick said.
A TRAGIC TIMELINE:
- 2: 30 a.m. Hope - Two men found dead in a home on the 69100-block of Othello Road.
- Time unknown Vanderhoof - Two bodies found dead inside a home Sunday. The pair, Blaine Albert Badfoot, 29, and Tara Lee Ann Williams, 40, are known to police. RCMP Major Crime Unit investigating.
- 1: 45 p.m. Nanaimo - A man found critically ill in a home on 500-block of Fifth Street and later died. (man is charged).
- 7 p.m. Surrey - A man is found in critical condition after being shot near 168th Street and 76th Avenue in targeted hit and later died of injuries. The victim, Manjot Dhillon, 27, is known to police. Integrated Homicide Investigation Team investigating.
- 11: 45 p.m. Surrey - Two men found shot to death in an open parkade at an apartment building at 128th Street and 94th Avenue. Integrated Homicide Investigation Team investigating.
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"Bill forces school districts to create gang policy, staff training"
INDIANAPOLIS — A bill that requires school corporations to create a criminal gang policy, and provide educational outreach and training to school employees to identify and prevent gang activity was heard at the Senate Education and Career Development Committee Wednesday.The bill is modeled from a similar law passed in Maryland and would implement policies to help teachers and school employees identify gang members in the school.
Many prosecuting attorneys and the Indiana School Board Association support the bill, which will help providegang identification training.
“Gangs are becoming increasingly involved in smaller schools,” said Frank Bush of the Indiana School Board Association. “It’s not just isolated to larger schools. And I think a law like this would really help bring together a lot of resources for smaller schools to use.”
Some are concerned with a part of the bill that would require school employees to report activities that could not be a part of gang activity. The school could accidentally report students who are not active in gangs, but could end up in the juvenile system.
“When you’re try to figure out who’s a gang member and who isn’t a gang member,” said Jaunae Hanger, an attorney who specializes in juvenile justice, “your own biases really come into play if you don’t have cultural competency training.”
She adds that there are number of great ideas, that include intervention and prevention, but warns about unintended consequences.
“We have to be really cautious that we don’t continue to negatively impact the children who we’re trying to help,” said Carole Craig of the Indianapolis National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Source: Post-Tribune
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings announced
Monday that there are nearly 70 gangs committing crimes on central Florida streets.
Just 17 years old, West Orange High School shooting suspect Jmorian Bell is already a documented gang member.
Deputies are trying to figure out whether those gang ties led to 15-year-old Jerodrick Smith being shot three times.
The incident prompted the county's top brass to hold a major press conference Monday.
"Here in Orange County we've documented in our law enforcement community about 67 different gangs, and over 1,200 of them in the county," Demings said. "Over 1,200 members."
9 Investigates first exposed the growing gang problem in central Florida last month, and at the time Eyewitness News couldn't get any law enforcement agency to talk about the issue.
"We do have gangs in Orange County we can't hide our heads in the sand and make believe it doesn't," Capt. Angelo Nieves with Orange County Sheriff's Office said.
Orange County's 67 gangs are just a fraction of the 1,664 gangs known to law enforcement statewide – a 1.6 percent increase from last year.
Membership is going up, too.
There are nearly 53,000 gang members in Florida, up 1.5 percent over the prior year.
Sheriff's deputies said some of those 1,200 documented members, like Bell, go to school with local kids.
"Those affiliations don't stop at the school door and that's one of the things we work very closely with," Nieves said.
Source: wftv.com
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Chicago, IL - September 2013,
Chicago park shootings: 13 in critical condition after gang violence
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Nearly 70 gangs in central Fla., Orange Co. officials
Orange Co, Fl December, 2013Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings announced
Just 17 years old, West Orange High School shooting suspect Jmorian Bell is already a documented gang member.
Deputies are trying to figure out whether those gang ties led to 15-year-old Jerodrick Smith being shot three times.
The incident prompted the county's top brass to hold a major press conference Monday.
"Here in Orange County we've documented in our law enforcement community about 67 different gangs, and over 1,200 of them in the county," Demings said. "Over 1,200 members."
9 Investigates first exposed the growing gang problem in central Florida last month, and at the time Eyewitness News couldn't get any law enforcement agency to talk about the issue.
"We do have gangs in Orange County we can't hide our heads in the sand and make believe it doesn't," Capt. Angelo Nieves with Orange County Sheriff's Office said.
Orange County's 67 gangs are just a fraction of the 1,664 gangs known to law enforcement statewide – a 1.6 percent increase from last year.
Membership is going up, too.
There are nearly 53,000 gang members in Florida, up 1.5 percent over the prior year.
Sheriff's deputies said some of those 1,200 documented members, like Bell, go to school with local kids.
"Those affiliations don't stop at the school door and that's one of the things we work very closely with," Nieves said.
Source: wftv.com
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Chicago, IL - September 2013,
Chicago park shootings: 13 in critical condition after gang violence
Thirteen people, including a 3-year-old boy, were wounded during a late-night attack in a south side Chicago park on Thursday in what police say was a gang-related shooting.
Two gunmen opened fire on a group gathered on a basketball court in the Back of Yards neighborhood about 10:15 p.m., according to the Chicago Sun Times.
Three victims are in critical condition, including the 3-year-old, Deonta Howard, according to an AP report.
The boy’s uncle, Julian Harris, said dreadlocked gunmen in a gray sedan fired at him on the corner of Wood and 51st before shooting up the nearby Cornell Square Park.
“They hit the light pole next to me, but I ducked down and ran into the house,” Mr. Harris said to the Sun Times. "They’ve been coming ‘round here looking for people to shoot every night – just gang-banging stuff. It’s what they do.”
Police have not discussed the details of the shooting, though they have said the violence was gang-related, according to the Sun Times.
A police department spokesman said no arrests have been made in the shooting, and victims were being interviewed to try to determine the circumstances of the attack.
About 60 police officers were on the scene at the peak of activity.
This attack is part of a recent spike in gun violence in Chicago originating from hundreds of gang factions established in block-by-block territories on the south and west sides of the city. An outpouring of gun-related violence over Labor Day weekend resulted in eight deaths and more than 20 injuries.
Chicago police have lately been flooding crime "hot spots" with extra patrols and manpower, in a bid to curb the rampant street violence. The number of homicides in Chicago topped 500 last year, making 2012 the deadliest year in the city since 2008. A recent FBI crime report shows that the Windy City's murder rate is disproportionately high compared with many other cities. New York City, where the population is three times that of Chicago, recorded 419 murders in 2012.
Francis John, who has lived in the Back of the Yards neighborhood since 1983, told the Sun Times she was surprised by the Thursday shootings. The neighborhood has gone from good, to bad, to better during her time living there, she said.
Ms. John was upstairs in her apartment near the park when she heard gunfire. “It was a lot of boom, boom, boom.” John then went outside to see what had happened. “A lot of youngsters were running scared,” she said.
“People are watching the community,” John said, referencing new police watch efforts at Chicago crime hot spots. “I thought [the shootings] were over. But despite this incident, it’s not as bad as it used to be.”
By 12:30 a.m. Friday, police investigators had finished combing the crime scene. About two hours after the shooting, Chicago firefighters began cleaning blood from the basketball court at the park.
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Denver, CO - May 2013
Denver Police: Gang-related violence near doubles this year.
The number of gang-related violent crimes in Denver has nearly doubled in the first four months of this year, despite a police program aimed at encouraging gangsters to lead more peaceful lives.
The overall number of gang-related or gang-motivated offenses has remained nearly steady in the first four months of this year compared with 2012, but police department figures show an increased percentage of violent gang-related crimes. Aggravated assaults, for example, have more than doubled, from 47 between Jan. 1 and April 22, 2012, to 107 during the same period this year. In the first four months of 2012, there were 72 gang-related crimes against people; in that same period this year there have been 132.
Police officials say it is too soon to gauge the success of the far-reaching Ceasefire program and that the numbers don't tell the entire story....
Read the entire story below
Source: Denver Post
Source: Denver Post
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Chicago, IL - September 2013Heroin Pushed on Chicago Fueling Gang Murders
The two Mexican couriers were hauling a tractor-trailer full of cash: $3 million collected for drugs sold on the streets of Chicago. Juan Gonzalez and David Zuniga were driving their rig through Indiana in October 2011, transporting the money to Mexico. As they stopped to fix a flat tire, three members of the Gangster Disciples, Chicago’s biggest street gang, held them up at gunpoint.
The gang had bought the drugs -- and now these members wanted the money back. They pistol-whipped and handcuffed Zuniga. As the gangsters were hooking their own purple Kenworth cab to the money-laden trailer, Gonzalez fled through a cornfield and called the police.
Read the entire story below...
Source: Bloomberg
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Brooklyn, New York - December 2013Teen Convictred of Murder for Gunning down rival gangbanger
A teenage Brooklyn girl with a fitting nickname was convicted of murder Monday for gunning down a rival gangbanger in Browsville in 2011 — when the shooter was just 16 years old.
Sahiah “Uzi” Davis, now 18, blasted Nathaniel Walcott with a handgun as part of an ongoing beef between the Wave Gang and the Hood Stars, a witness testified during her Brooklyn Supreme Court trial.
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| Sahiah "Uzi" Davis (left) was instructed to murder someone from her former gang, the Hood Starz. |
“It was a way the Hood Stars greeted themselves,” the witness testified at trial, referring to how victim Nathaniel Walcott yelled out “Choo,” a gang call, before he was killed.
At the time of the murder Davis had just completed her freshman year at George Westinghouse HS in Downtown Brooklyn, where she played basketball and skipped on the school’s co-ed jumprope team.
She faces 25 to life behind bars when she is sentenced December 18
Source: New York Post
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Oklahoma City, OK - November 8, 2103
Oklahoma city and one other city listed as worst in drive by gang violence
Oklahoma city and one other city listed as worst in drive by gang violence
OKLAHOMA CITY -Oklahoma City was also tops among the five for percentage of gang murders committed via drive-by.
According to the CDC, “With regard to the circumstances preceding the homicide, drive-by shootings were significantly more likely to contribute to gang homicides than other types of homicide in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City. Nearly one quarter of gang homicides in these cities were drive-by shootings, compared with 1%–6% of non-gang homicides.”
The National Violent Death Reporting System also has Oklahoma listed as one of 5 states with the most gang homicides.
CDC lists Oakland, Oklahoma City, Long beach, Los Angeles and Newark to be the U.S. capitols of gang homicides.
“In these cities, a total of 856 gang and 2,077 non-gang homicides were identified and included in the analysis. Comparisons of the characteristics of gang and non-gang homicides were made using Fisher’s exact tests for all the variables except mean age, which required a T-Test. The characteristics included basic demographics of the victims, descriptive information on the homicide event, and circumstances precipitating the event,” according to CDC.
Gangs are associated with drug trade, homicides that were both drug and gang-related were less common than those involved in drugs alone.
“Gang homicides also were more likely to occur in the afternoon/evening hours in the majority of the five cities; however, comparisons were not examined because the data were missing for 23% of non-gang homicide incidents. In Oklahoma City, gang homicides occurred more frequently on weekend than did non-gang homicides.”
For more information about violence in Oklahoma visit CDC’s website.
This study’s results are from the year 2008.
Source: KFOR News
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Wilmington, North Carolina - October 30, 2013
City to hold public meetings addressing gang violence
City to hold public meetings addressing gang violence
WILMINGTON | During the next three months, the city of Wilmington will host public meetings to address gang violence.
The meetings are designed to identify short and long-term strategies that can reduce gang violence, according to a news release. The first meeting will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday in city hall, 102 N. Third St.
Nearly 300 people representing organizations including nonprofits, law enforcement, businesses, churches and educational institutions have been invited.
The first meeting is designed to define issues that need to be addressed while subsequent meetings will focus on solutions and implementation. In the release, City Manager Sterling Cheatham said law enforcement is only part of the solution.
"What we are trying to do is help coordinate efforts from all sectors of our community and focus their resources to help stop gang violence where it starts," Cheatham said.
Source: Star News
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