GUT THE GANGS

Law Enforcement Officials Must Keep The Pressure On
Drug-Dealing Gangs.

SEVERAL YEARS ago, Savannah was told it didn't have a gang
problem.

It does now.

And it's a bad one, in terms of violent crime and the local drug
trade.

On Tuesday, Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Chief Michael Berkow
announced the arrests of 27 suspected gang members. They are allegedly
connected to three local gangs that are fighting a no-holds-barred
drug war.

It's a deadly one: Police say the violence has claimed at least six
lives and has injured another 20 people.

We applaud this counter-strike by local law enforcement and urge
Savannah City Council, the Chatham County Commission and other
governments to support it. It must continue, with the goal of
attacking the gang problem at its roots.

Police, prosecutors and the judges must be in it for the long haul. So
must the rest of the community. Today's successes must not become
tomorrow's wasted opportunities.

In this instance, the police department under Chief Berkow's
leadership is proving an important dictum: It's just as important to
work smart as it is to work hard.

In December 2006, police noticed an upward spike in violent crime and
drug activity. Instead of blanketing the streets (and spreading
limited resources too thinly), officials made a conscious decision to
make the equivalent of a surgical strike on those they believed were
responsible. They collected intelligence through surveillance and
undercover drug buys. They assembled a multi-jurisdictional team of
investigators from several departments, which brought a range of
expertise in drugs, guns and money to the table.

And then they struck.

Savannah, police said, has three gangs that operate in three
neighborhoods. All are involved in drug sales. The public should
support efforts to excise them like cancerous tumors and put their
leaders behind bars: They are:

The Hitch Village Posse/Hitch Village Committee (HVP). It's centered
around a downtown public housing project by the same time.

The Waters Avenue Crew. Its name reveals its stomping
ground.

The Gwinnett Street Posse. Ditto.

Investigators believe these three gangs are linked to at least 20
percent of the violence that occurred in Savannah between July 2006
and March 2007. It started as a turf fight between the Waters Avenue
and Gwinnett Street gangs, then later enveloped what police say is an
ongoing feud between two Savannah families with links to violence and
drugs - the Johnson family and the Ferguson family.

That dispute came to a head when the leader of the Hitch Village gang,
former Savannah High School basketball star James Ferguson, was shot
and killed, allegedly by an enforcer for the Waters Avenue Crew. That
enforcer has since been killed, allegedly by three members of the
Gwinnett Street Posse.

Clearly, these three gangs aren't young men just hanging out. They are
more like business enterprises with leaders and followers - and,
presumably, members-in-training. Gangs behave like deadly spiders: Cut
off a leg or two, and they will grow back.

That's why it's encouraging to hear Chief Berkow say that these
arrests are just a start. The cooperation between District Attorney
Spencer Lawton and his federal counterparts is worth applause as well.
It means the bad guys will get the maximum punishment under state or
federal laws.

But police and prosecutors can't kill these spiders
alone.

The Housing Authority of Savannah oversees Hitch Village and
determines who gets the privilege of living in taxpayer-subsidized
apartments. If gang members are living there, then housing officials
must root them out. There's a big demand for affordable housing. Rent
these units to people who obey the law, not break the law.

And here's what private citizens can do: Turn them
in.

Gangs don't operate in a vacuum. Each gang member has friends, family
and acquaintances. Given the short life expectancy that comes with
gang membership, citizens who turn in gang members will be doing them
a favor, especially if it happens early enough so young lives can be
turned around.

Here's another reason to turn them in: Gang members don't just shoot
other gang members. They pose real dangers to innocent bystanders. At
least three have been wounded by stray bullets. They also threaten
public school safety - when Ferguson was killed, police said, friends
of the slain high school athlete rallied together.

So gut the gangs. And keep the arrests coming.

Gangs behave like deadly spiders: Cut off a leg or two, and they will
grow back.