GANGS TRY TO HIDE TIES

Identifying graffiti, colors, and hand signals -- that's how police kept
track of gang affiliations in the '80s, but as big-city gangs moved into
less urban areas such as Iowa City in the '90s, the profile of a gang
member became much more difficult to recognize.

Now members don't proudly publicize their gang connections; they work to
conceal them. They strive to keep low profiles and no longer identify
themselves as gang members but as individuals, said Iowa City police Lt.
Sid Jackson.

"The colors, the hand signs, and the bandanas were all '80s stuff," said
Detective David Gonzalez, an officer specializing in gang-related crime.
"Today, we identify gang members based on behavior, not dress."

The main way police officers identify gang members now is through drug
dealing -- an activity that gang members are conducting more and more covertly.

Gang members work hard to keep their activities unknown in Iowa City,
Jackson said. Rival gang members are increasingly cooperative, for example.
They quietly resolve inter-gang conflicts so police do not become involved,
he said.

"They don't want the extra attention being a gang member in a small
community draws because they can't get paid if everybody knows their
business," Jackson said. Often, gang members briefly relocate to places
such as Iowa City from the over-saturated drug market in Chicago to sell
crack-cocaine, marijuana, and more recently, heroin, police said.

"Basically, they can sell their dope here for a higher price," Gonzalez
said. "Really, it's a question of economics. Iowa City is not a target for
gang members; it's just a good business for them."

The increase of drug violations corresponds to the jump in gang activity,
said Police Chief R.J. Winkelhake. Drug charges increased by threefold from
1995, when gangs first emerged in the area, through 2000.

When gang members began arriving in Iowa City, police found themselves
dealing with other gang-related crimes, such as burglaries, fights, and
even drive-by shootings, Jackson said.

Many of the gang members in Iowa City associated with drug use can be
classified as members of either the Folk Nation or People Nation, two major
gangs that originated in the Chicago area, Gonzalez said.

The Folk and People nations are the Midwestern equivalents to the Crips and
Bloods from the West Coast and operate within the Chicago area in a fashion
similar to that of the West Coast gangs, he said. Gang symbols, hand signs,
and initiation into the gang, along with criminal activity, are commonly
associated with both Chicago and West Coast gangs.

The Vice Lords and the Black P Stone Rangers are two gangs represented in
Iowa City that align themselves with the People Nation, Gonzalez said.
Members of the Black D Sciples represent the Folk Nation, he said.

Smaller pockets around the community have absorbed the brunt of the
small-town gang phenomenon, police said.

Many gang members in the area have migrated toward southeastern Iowa City.
The Wetherby, Broadway, and Cross Park areas in particular attract gang
members because there is a high percentage of low-income, subsidized
housing in the area, according to police.

Jerry Hansen, the president of the Wetherby Friends and Neighborhood
Association, said the public should not be fooled by the low profile that
gang members have struggled to maintain.

"Just because they aren't wearing colors and making themselves visible
doesn't mean they aren't here," he said. "They are here, they're here in
force, and they're here to sell drugs to our kids."

Hansen said he is often frustrated by the lack of support the community has
offered the East Side.

"People in the community are saying, 'As long as it's not in my
neighborhood, I don't care,' " he said. "People want to believe this is a
warm and fuzzy city, but they're robbing homes, and I'm sick of it."

Iowa City police said gangs are an issue of utmost concern but not an issue
they are able to fight alone.

"Gangs in Iowa City are a problem that police should be concerned about,"
Gonzalez said. "Any type of criminal activity that involves gangs and
drugs, handguns, violence against other people or property, is one police
should be concerned about."

While police are concerned about gangs, he said, it is not too late for the
community to do something about the problem, adding that gang members do
not always act as cohesive units.

"The members are here, but their forces are not in place," Gonzalez said.
"Their leaders are all either dead or in prison, and they do not have
active recruitment here, either. On top of that, our police department has
been trained to squash gang activity before it has a chance to grow."