For counties with emerging gang problems, the first hurdle is often denial, a local gang expert said.
“The approach in Maryland has been to waste the first two years denying the problem,” Sgt. Andrew Eways, of the Maryland State police organized crime unit, told Carroll County?s newly formed anti-gang task force at its second meeting Friday. “I always hear, ?We don?t have gangs here.? I heard that about Baltimore City.”
Some educators from Carroll?s schools said gang activity is still limited to young “wannabes,” according to the preliminary results of a gang-assessment study due out in late November or early December.
But dismissing groups as such is dangerous, Eways said.
“I cringe when I hear the word ?wannabe? because it belittles the problem,” he said. “The more you call them wannabes, the you more you entice them to commit crimes.”
Commissioners Dean Minnich and Julia Walsh Gouge, both Republican incumbents running for re-election next month, defended anti-gang initiatives this week.
“People ask, ?Do we really have a gang problem??” Minnich said. “It?s here and ? we need to deal with this right now before it gets any worse.”
“This is the type of issue that people want to bury until a shooting happens,” said Teresa Shattuck, president of Shattuck & Associates, the consultants performing the study. “I?m from Prince George?s County, and they are just reeling because they [tackled the problem] too late.”
The Carroll state?s attorney?s office started tracking gangs two years ago after prosecutors noticed a spike in violence, including an incident, they said, when Crips member Brian Hill, 23, shot through Westminster houses following a fight with a rival Blood.
Gangs can be limited but never fully eradicated, said Clarence Beall, deputy state?s attorney.
Police arrested one man, for example, but he posted the $100,000 bond and was spotted recruiting at a Westminster playground weeks later, Beall said.
Carroll?s drug market, where dealers can demand three times the Baltimore price, fuels the cycle of new members replacing incarcerated ones, police said.
Common misconceptions
» Wearing bandannas is no longer prevalent because it attracts too much police attention.
» Many members identified as “MS-13” are actually “Sureno,” another Latino gang. They?re often confused because they wear the same colors.
» Many of Carroll County?s gang members are homegrown, not from Baltimore.
Source: Sgt. Andrew Eways
Police must start cooperating in order to fight gangs
Law enforcement agencies must start sharing information with each other if Carroll County is going to tackle its growing gang problem, according to a new task force.
“Every department keeps records, but there shouldn?t be 15 of the same records,” said Sgt. Andrew Eways, of the Maryland State police organized crime unit. The county needs to create a centralized repository for gang intelligence, he said.
Police acknowledged that territorial attitudes and friction exist between the Carroll County Sheriff?s Office and the state police, but information should be exchanged more freely between the sheriff?s office, state police and municipal police departments to streamline efforts for gang prevention and suppression, according to the preliminary results of a new gang-assessment survey.
New gangs are emerging in Carroll that make former local Crips leaders “look like Boy Scouts,” said Cpl. Brendan Benner, a Carroll County Detention Center correctional officer.
“I talked to one guy who looked at me like he would just as soon slit my throat and then have a cheeseburger,” he said.
Carroll County received a $15,000 state grant to fund the assessment study, the first required step for applying for an additional grant of up to $200,000 for anti-gang efforts.
The final study will appear in coming weeks on www.carroll
families.org, the Web site of the Local Management Board. ? Kelsey Volkmann
