POLICE ON MENOMINEE RESERVATION ARREST 25 JUVENILES IN A ''WAR OVER DRUGS"

KESHENA, Wis. (AP) Police on the Menominee Reservation arrested 25 youth
following a gun battle between two gangs in which at least 50 shots were
fired, authorities said.

''This is a state of emergency,'' Tribal Police Chief Karen
NeconishGardner said. ''It is a war over drugs.''

The confrontation between more than 30 members of the Gangster Disciples
and Latin Kings, who were armed with pistols and sawedoff shotguns,
occurred early Wednesday morning, she said.

No one was injured, NeconishGardner said.

The youth, all residents of the reservation just north of Shawano, ranged
in age from 12 to 17, she said. More suspects were being sought. The FBI is
assisting in the investigation, she said.

A spokesman for the FBI in Milwaukee did not immediately return a telephone
call for comment Friday.

The Latin Kings and Gangster Disciples are two of several gangs involved in
selling marijuana and cocaine on the reservation, NeconishGardner said.

''Where you have a gang problem, you have a drug problem,'' she said.
''This is not about using. This is about trafficking. It is all about
criminal activity about drugs and crime and power.''

About 3,300 people live on the reservation.

Several weapons were recovered after Wednesday's shootout, including a
pistol used in a robbery earlier this year in Oconto County,
NeconishGardner said.

Gangs have been active on the reservation for three generations, Menominee
County Sheriff Beth Moses said.

''We've got little kids flashing gang signs in day care,'' Moses said.
''They are going to grow up thinking this is part of their heritage.''

Reservation law enforcement officials have appealed to the community for
help.

But only three people attended a neighborhood watch organizational meeting
held last week, organizer Frank Teller said.

All said they were afraid to join a citizen's patrol because they feared
gang retaliation, Teller said.

''What I told them is the reality is there may be retaliation,'' Teller
said. ''We, as a community, have to act. Maybe things are not so bad yet,
but as the gang behavior becomes more intense, things are getting worse.''