ALPO MENU. “If you see this spray-painted on the side of your buildings, you have a serious problem,” said Cpl. Brendan Benner, gang expert for the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.
That?s gang speak for “We?re going to turn you into puppy chow,” Benner said.
Benner, speaking at a Carroll County Landlords Association meeting Thursday night, walked his audience through a list of gang symbols as part of communitywide effort to rinse Carroll of gang recruiters and organizers.
A five-point star, or pentagram, represents the notorious “Bloods” gang, Benner said. The Crips often tag their territory with a six-point star.
While gang activity in Carroll County is limited, law enforcers here say they?ve been fighting its beginnings. “The difference between Carroll County and the other metro counties, is what we?re seeing is adult gang members making their way into the county to establish networks and organizations,” said Lt. Phil Kasten, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office. “They?re testing our markets.”
Less than 5 percent of crime in the county is related to gang activity, Kasten said. Since 2004, police have come in contact with about 40 gang members, most of them Crips, Kasten said.
The gangs survive on profits from drug-running and stolen property, and the older members recruit minors to do the dirty work because they know the juvenile system is rehabilitative, Kasten said.
Benner said most of the gang members he?s seen have been picked up in Westminster or Taneytown and belong to cliques within the Crips gang.
In identifying gang members, Benner said symbols, rather than appearances, are more reliable.
“You can?t discriminate against people on what they wear or how they look anymore,” because gang dress and mannerisms have been swept into popular culture, making it difficult to distinguish threat from fad, he said.
The symbols are often cryptic and simple ? a string of letters and numbers, an area code, an acronym ? and appear as tattoos, on walls, dumpsters, underpasses and in public restrooms, Benner said.
He instructed landlords and residents who see these symbols on their property to “read, record [with a camera], report [to police] and remove.”
Carroll County recently received a $150,000 grant to staff a gang prevention specialist who will weave together the county?s law enforcement and community?s efforts, Kasten said. The position to be filled in the next few weeks.
BY THE NUMBERS
Anne Arundel
Number of gangs: Not available
Number of members: N/A
Affiliations: Neighborhood gangs
Engage in: Graffiti
Baltimore County
Number of gangs: 35 *
Number of members: N/A
Affiliations: Neighborhood or school gangs, Crips, Bloods, MS-13
Engage in: Street-level drug sales, vandalism, assaults, robberies
Baltimore City
Number of gangs: 170 *
Number of members: 1,300 *
Affiliations: Neighborhood gangs, motorcycle gangs, Bloods, Crips, MS-13
Engage in: Street-level drug sales, robberies, assaults, murders
Carroll
Number of gangs: N/A
Number of members: 15 *
Affiliations: Crips
Engage in: Destruction of property, assaults, drug sales
Harford
Number of gangs: N/A
Number of members: 290 *
Affiliations: Crips, Bloods
Engage in: Street-level drug sales, robberies, burglaries, assaults
Howard
Number of gangs: N/A
Number of members: N/A
Affiliations: MS-13, 18th Street Gang
Engage in: Vandalism, robberies, theft, auto theft
*Figures are approximations
Source: Maryland Gangs: Information and Prevention
