GANG CRIME SPREADING, STUDY SAYS

33 Counties New To Gang Activity Since 1970

Nearly half of Wisconsin's 72 counties reported youth gang activity for the
first time during the last three decades, placing the state in a tie for
eighth nationally in the number of "new gang counties," according to a U.S.
Department of Justice report.

Wisconsin's youth gang experience mirrors that of the country as a whole.
Youth street gangs, in their current form, took off in many states in the
1970s. By 1998, they had exploded in numbers and influence throughout the
nation and were found in every state.

Wisconsin tied for 17th nationwide in the number of "new gang cities" that
emerged in the past three decades, with 45 of the state's cities reporting
gang activity for the first time.

The report, written by criminologist Walter B. Miller, a former Harvard
University professor, does not list the specific cities and counties.
However, yearly reports by the U.S. Department of Justice identified some
of the Wisconsin communities reporting new gang activity in the mid- and
late 1990s as Little Chute, Marshfield, Platteville, New Berlin, Viroqua,
Superior, Ashwaubenon, Marinette, and Beloit.

The numbers don't surprise Wisconsin officials who work on the gang
problem. In the last few years, they've seen a gang leader being prosecuted
for murder in Superior order the firebombing of the district attorney's
home; a new street gang emerge on Indian reservations called the "Sovereign
Nation Warriors"; Gangster Disciples from Illinois establish crack houses
in Wausau; and Hmong gangs take hold in rural communities with large
immigrant populations.

Gang activity spreading

Nationally, about 7% of all U.S. municipalities and 38% of all U.S.
counties reported new problems with gangs from 1970 through 1998, the
latest year available, the report says.

Law enforcement officials in about 2,550 municipalities and about 1,150
counties reported problems with youth gangs between those years, the
largest numbers reported in the nation's history. The South showed the
largest increase in number of cities reporting gang activity. The Midwest
showed the second-largest increase, according to the report. Although
Eastern states were top-ranked in the 1970s, they did not rank high by 1998
in new gang activity.

In the 1970s, just 270 municipalities nationwide reported new problems with
youth gangs - about 1% of all U.S. municipalities. And just 101 counties in
the country reported problems, about 3%.

Further, the size of the "average gang city" nationally dropped during the
past three decades, from 182,000 people to 34,000, the report says.

In Wisconsin, the report shows how the state's gang problem has steadily
spread from beyond Milwaukee decade by decade. That's despite increasing
law enforcement efforts to combat it.

For example, in 1994, then-Gov. Tommy G. Thompson and legislators created
the Gang Violence Prevention Council to explore the nature of gang crime
throughout the state. In 1996, an Office of Gang Intervention and
Prevention was created. This office, in the state Office of Justice
Assistance, funds five youth gang diversion grant projects; nine
gang-related conferences and symposiums are scheduled to be held in the
state between July and fall 2002.

Gangs have been present, in Milwaukee and big cities throughout the
country, for many decades. But the Justice Department report focuses on
counting municipalities and counties that are new to gang problems.

In the 1970s, no Wisconsin cities reported new gang activity. By the 1980s,
there were eight new gang cities; by 1998, there were 37 more cities,
according to the Justice Department report.

The same trend is found among Wisconsin counties. No counties reported new
gang activity during the 1970s, but nine reported seeing it for the first
time in the 1980s and 24 more reported its emergence in 1998.

Looking for markets

"Generally, we are seeing across the state more and more the presence of
gangs and gang activity," confirmed Bob Sloey, director of operations for
the state Department of Justice's Division of Narcotics Enforcement. He
said that gangs are often expanding their territories because they are
looking for new drug markets.

"A lot of times, we are seeing Chicago-based gangs relocating to some of
the smaller towns in Wisconsin and setting up drug distribution networks."

Stan Stojkovic, a criminal justice professor at the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said the report "means something was finally attempted
by governmental agencies to address the issue that gangs are not just a
big-city urban problem, but clearly can include rural towns, counties, and
communities."

Stojkovic, however, urged caution when interpreting the numbers, say the
definition of what constitutes gang activity varies widely by jurisdiction.
Sloey concurred, saying that "Thirty-three counties (reporting gang
activity for the first time) is not surprising, but to what level?
Sometimes people see some tagging or kids acting like a gang, but there is
not the same level of sophistication as those in Milwaukee."

In Milwaukee, Sloey said, street gangs control a large portion of the
street-level drug distribution.

Wisconsin's proximity to Chicago clearly plays a role. According to the
report, Illinois reported 261 "new gang cities" from 1970 through 1998,
second nationally only to California, which was way ahead of all states
with 363.

Gangs in Milwaukee

The book, "People and Folks," a seminal work on Milwaukee gangs by
University of Illinois professor John Hagedorn, says four of Milwaukee's
gangs in the 1970s and '80s started with Chicago roots. Chicago "had a
reputation as a city where gangs were heavy, so identification with a
Chicago gang was part of the hype and machismo image of the gang," he
wrote. "The 'laws and prayers' of the Chicago gangs and Chicago gang
traditions exerted a strong cultural influence on Milwaukee gang development."

Gangs in Milwaukee took hold during a time of deepening economic depression
in minority communities, Hagedorn wrote. Black workers "remain concentrated
in those areas of the economy undergoing decline or paying low wages," he
wrote. "Minority youth who formed Milwaukee's 1980s gangs will not have an
industrial ladder to step on in order to mature out of the gang."

Stojkovic, the UWM professor, also said Milwaukee lost 100,000
manufacturing jobs during the 1980s, the period when street gangs took root
there. "When there were more blue-collar jobs, there were more stable
families, and there was more parental control," he said. "Gangs are
symptomatic with larger issues that kids are dealing with - family issues,
drug availability issues, school issues, peer issues."

The Justice report listed these likely causes for the "youth gang
explosion," among others:

Drugs. The explosion of crack cocaine in the 1980s provided new sources of
income for gangs. "As gangs fought one another over control of the drug
trade in local areas, the level of intergang violence rose and, in the
process, increased gang cohesion and incentives to form alliances with
other gangs." The report compares this to the rise of organized crime
during Prohibition.

In Milwaukee, violence between rival gangs has resulted in numerous
homicides. Federal prosecutors who instigated a 1998 racketeering
indictment against three dozen members of the south side's Latin Kings gang
- - which has roots in Chicago - had said the gang was linked to nearly a
dozen murders as well as a large drug conspiracy. They have now shifted
their focus to north side gangs.

Immigration. According to the report, gangs in the 1800s were largely
composed of immigrant groups such as the Irish, Jewish, and Slavic
populations. "Major waves of immigration" during the past 25 years brought
in many other different ethnic groups who have "formed gangs in the classic
immigrant gang tradition," the report says.

Gang Alliances. According to the report, national gangs like the Crips and
Bloods and the Kings grew in power throughout the country in the 1980s, as
more neighborhood gangs fell under the national gang umbrellas.

Government Policies. During the 1960s, "urban gangs were seen by some
policymakers as a major vehicle for bettering the life of ghetto and barrio
residents," the report says. "They were indigenous, rooted in the
community, and represented an untapped reservoir of potential leadership."
More than $1 million in federal money was allocated to New York and Chicago
gangs in the hopes that gang members would give up criminal activity.

"These efforts were largely unsuccessful," according to the report, and
members received the message that gangs "were regarded with tolerance, if
not approval, by powerful politicians."

Female-headed households. Male youths raised without fathers sometimes turn
to gangs, which "in essence took the place of fathers in providing a model
of male identity for boys," the report says. The number of youths raised in
homes without fathers rose from 11% to 23% for the general population from
1970 to 1990, the report says.