"Does Detroit Have Gangs?"

[DocTerry]

Jmil - maybe it's just that there's a lot of overlap between the two groups? County-wide, given that the recent mess involving the Highway Men also is alleged to involve T. Attala. Perhaps the "gang-public servant" is greater than we think...

[kraig]

As long as you have disenfranchised youth, you're going to have gangs.

We're going to have more gang violence in schools next year. We have had a number of rival gangmembers all being sent to the same schools.

[kraig]

This just in.



Friday, June 19, 2009
36 Detroit gang members arrested

Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News

Detroit -- A nationwide crackdown on alleged violent gangs resulted Friday in the arrests of 36 people in southwest Detroit by local police and agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Those arrested are believed to represent four different gangs, the Latin Counts, Folks, Sure�os and Jamaican Posse. One individual arrested is believed to be the leader in the Sure�os gang hierarchy, according to officials. Seven of those arrested were non-U.S. citizens, including six from Mexico and one from El Salvador.
Everyone arrested today already has a criminal record, said ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls. Their prior convictions include assault, larceny, narcotics, weapons, malicious destruction of property and probation violation charges.
"Gang related activities and those who choose to partake in them do so knowing full well the negative impact their actions can have on the neighborhoods throughout our fine city," Detroit Police Chief James Barren said in a statement released today by federal authorities. "We hope these arrests will call attention to our never-ending commitment to combat, suppress and prevent future gang related behavior."
The local/federal cooperative is called Operation Community Shield, Walls said. The project organized under the ICE National Gang Unit identifies violent street gangs and gathers intelligence on their membership, associates, criminal activities and international movements. The goal is to disrupt and dismantle gang operations by tracing and seizing cash, weapons and other assets.
In three years, the federal/local initiative has arrested more than 13,000 street alleged gang members and their associates belonging to more than 900 different gangs. More than 150 of those arrested were believed to be gang leaders.
Along with Detroit, other areas targeted for the anti-gang initiative include Cleveland, Indianapolis, Tampa, Fla., Dallas and Ft. Worth, Texas, the Route 222 Corridor of Eastern Pennsylvania, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Raleigh/Durham, N.C., Oklahoma City and Rochester, N.Y.
The effort in southwest Detroit involves Detroit Police, Michigan State Police, the Wayne County Sheriff's Department, Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, U.S. Marshals Service, FBI, ICE, ATF, DEA and the Michigan Department of Corrections.

[exdetroiter]

Yes, they have gangs. These are members of their own organized crime families. Their business is to sell drugs and terrorize anyone whom gets in their way. Often time returning to their homes in the suburbs.