Reported gang crime in Montgomery County shot up 29 percent in 2007, from 360 incidents in 2006 to 477 incidents this year, and was accompanied by a 20 percentincrease in the number of known, active gang members, according to gang task force officers.
The spike in reported gang incidents includes nearly twice the number of assaults involving gang members, which increased from 49 in 2006 to 99 in 2007, and more than double the number of drug, rape and vandalism offenses compared to the prior year.
Nonetheless, gang crimes are only about 1 percent of all reported crime in the county, police said.
Police gang officials said there were 40 active gangs and 1,166 active gang members in Montgomery from July 2007 through year’s end, compared to 36 gangs and 1017 active gang members in the same period of 2006.
“This is not so much that gangs are targeting kids, it’s much more that kids are looking for them,” Montgomery’s youth violence prevention coordinator Luis Cardona said. “They’re looking for a connection and a feeling of family.”
Montgomery Police Capt. David Gillespie said officials are concerned by a jump in the number of Hispanic gang members, which increased by 90 people, and that the notorious Salvadoran gang MS-13, appears to be reaching out to Latinos in general, regardless of country of origin.
Police report that many gangs are becoming “mixed-race” organizations and new members appear to be more concerned about prestige than actual criminal enterprise.
“We’re still at a stage where we are fortunate our gang membership is still somewhat less organized than national chapters and it is done more for status and protection than personal gain or profit,” Gillespie said.
He adds that the growth in gang crime statistics could stem from having more officers who are trained to identify gang-related crime.
The largely tranquil suburban county saw a two-week surge of high-profile incidents of gang on gang violence in November when three teenagers were stabbed and two teenagers were shot in four separate, but related incidents in Gaithersburg.
Officers arrested at least seven individuals in connection with the attacks and said they stemmed from feuding local gangs who identified themselves with the Crips and the Bloods.
Montgomery Council Vice-President Phil Andrews said the county’s gang problem is “significant, but not out of control.”
