Reportaje Especial: Pandillas en Athens, Parte 3

Señal de problemas: Los admitamos o no, las pandillas dejan su huella

Por Joe Johnson
Fotos de Allen Sullivan

Es ridículo negar que el Condado de Athens-Clarke no tiene un problema de pandillas, las pintada de seis pies de alto en una pared justo en frente del estacionamiento para profesores de la Escuela Secundaria Clarke Central lo demuestra.

"S13", dice la pintada, en aparente tributo a la pandilla a nivel nacional Sur 13, la cual los expertos dicen está reclutando nuevos miembros en el sureste.

Las acciones dicen más que las palabras:

En agosto del año pasado, un grupo de jóvens se dirigieron hacia un hombre que estaba colocando la silla de su hija en el maletero de su auto y le preguntaron, "¿Lado este o oeste? Le dispararon tres veces por dar la respuesta incorrecta.

Aunque parezca de mal gusto, a veces se pueden utilizar ejemplos para expresar la verdad sobre algo. Pero la respuesta a que si las pintadas o la violencia son señales de que Athens tiene un problema de pandillas depende de a quién se le pregunte.

"¿Cómo define a una pandilla?" preguntó el Jefe de Policía del Condado de Athens Jack Lumpkin. "Si utilizas una defición de la calle, puedes tener cualquier respuesta. Si usamos la defición legal, una definición usada por los investigadores de pandillas, puede ser que entonces no existan pandillas". El jefe de policía prefiere utilizar la defición legal.

Al leer los estatutos en Georgia, Lumpkin dijo que para ser considerada una pandilla, un grupo debe tener tres o más personas, las cuales "realizan actividades pandilleras criminales y siguen un cierto patrón" y su existencia "puede ser establecida por evidencia de un nombre común o señas de identificación común, símbolos, tatuajes, dibujos, vestimenta u otras características distintivas".

El 'National Youth Gang Center' (Centro Nacional de Jóvens Pandilleros) dice que existe más de una definición de pandillas, ya que los gobiernos estatales y locales tienden a desarrollar sus propias definiciones. Según el centro, "Una pandilla juvenil es comúnmente definida como una asociación formada por sus miembros y que tiene las siguientes características: tres o más miembros, generalmente entre los 12 y 24 años, un nombre e identidad propios, los cuales son generalmente símbolos como estilos de ropa, dibujos y señales con las manos; niveles de permanencia y organización; y un alto nivel de participación en delincuencia o actividades criminales".

Las pandillas tienen jerarquías definidas y buscan definir y mantener su terrotorio, explica Lumpkin, y el ser miembro incluye ritos de iniciación y la imposibilidad de salir del grupo.

Jóvenes en un vecindario de Athens recientemente demostraron indicios de actividad pandillera y de los cuales se refirió Lumpkin: tatuajes de sus pandillas, señales con las manos y hablando de sus experiencias al entrar a una pandilla como palizas por parte de otros miembros.

Vicente Marcial Campos, 14, muestra uno de sus tatuajes. La X es el número romano 10, y 10+3=13, el cual es el número adoptado por muchas pandillas mexicanas porque M es la 13ra. letra del abecedario y representa México. Vicente Marcial Campos, 14, shows one of his tattoos. The X is the roman numeral 10, and 10+3=13, the number adopted by many Mexican street gangs because M is the 13th letter of the alphabet and also stands for Mexico.

Special Report: Gangs in Athens, Part 3

Signs of a problem: Acknowledged or not, gangs leaving their mark

By Joe Johnson
Photos by Allen Sullivan

Seeming to mock the party line that Athens-Clarke County doesn't have a gang problem is a street gang's ''tag,'' spray-painted some 6 feet high on a wall directly across the street from the Clarke Central High School faculty parking lot.

"S13," the graffiti loudly proclaims, in apparent tribute to the Sur 13 national street gang that experts say is aggressively recruiting new membership in the Southeast.

Actions speak louder than words: Last August, a man placing his daughter's stroller in the trunk of his car was approached by a group of youths who asked, "East side or west side?" The man was shot three times for giving the wrong answer.

Trite as they may be, cliches can be effectively used to express truths. But the answer to whether graffiti or factional violence are indictors that Athens-Clarke County has a gang problem depends upon who is asked.

"How do you define gangs?" Athens-Clarke Police Chief Jack Lumpkin asked. "If you use a slang definition, you could have whatever you desire. If you use the statutory definition, a definition that is generally accepted by gang investigators, you may not have gangs."

The police chief chooses to use the legal definition.

Reading from Georgia statutes, Lumpkin said to be considered a gang, a group must be made up of three or more persons that "engages in a pattern of criminal gang activity" and the existence of which "may be established by evidence of a common name or common identifying signs, symbols, tattoos, graffiti, or attire or other distinguishing characteristics."

The National Youth Gang Center states there is no single, accepted definition of a gang, with state and local jurisdictions tending to develop their own definitions. According to the center, "A youth gang is commonly thought of as a self-formed association of peers having the following characteristics: three or more members, generally ages 12 to 24; a gang name and some sense of identity, generally indicated by such symbols as style of clothing, graffiti, and hand signs; some degree of permanence and organization; and an elevated level of involvement in delinquent or criminal activity."

Gangs have defined hierarchies, are about grabbing and holding onto territory, or "turf," Lumpkin said, and membership involves initiation rites and an inability for initiated members to leave.
Youths in one Athens neighborhood recently displayed some of the indicators of gang activity Lumpkin spoke of, showing off their gang tattoos, flashing hand signs, and talking about being "jumped in" to a gang by enduring initiation beatings by gang members.

Gang mind-set
Dr. Rufus Larkin, director of social work programs at the University of Georgia's Gwinnett University Center in Lawrenceville, had his own definition of what constitutes a gang.
"A general working definition of a gang is a group of people joined together for reasons of criminal enterprise, ethnicity or culture," Larkin said. "Whether they engage in smoking dope or doing graffiti, there has to be some sense of delinquency that establishes an identity, a mentality that sets them apart from anyone else."

Larkin said even in the absence of more serious crimes, gang-related graffiti alone should prompt Athens-Clarke community leaders to take action.

"It's like a nosebleed that continues to bleed being symptomatic of something more serious,'' Larkin said. ''A lot of research into gang activity indicates that graffiti is an early sign that something has started."

A range of people in the Athens community differed with the police chief on the gang issue, from public school teachers to members of the clergy.

The Rev. Carlos Baca, who ministers to Hispanic communities in north Athens, estimated as many as 60 percent of families living in one predominantly Mexican subdivision have children who either belong to or are affiliated with a gang. He said some of his parishioners live in constant fear of gangs, but do not report crimes committed by gang members for fear of reprisal or, because they are illegal immigrants, fear of deportation.

Gang tags blatant
A high school teacher, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution from superiors in the Clarke County School District, said students openly speak about and display symbols of their gang affiliations.

The writings on the wall - or tags, in gang lingo - for such groups as Sur XIII, DX3, P13 and Los Primos can be found throughout Athens, especially in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods, where children as young as 12 are happy to flash gang hand signs and high schoolers proudly display gang tattoos.

While some in Athens seem loath to use the term gang-related, the so-called east-west rivalry is a frequent source of violence, and even death, for young blacks in Athens.

Athens-Clarke police officials for years denied gangs exist here. There were only "loose affiliations" of people who make trouble from time to time, they say. Some say police and other officials were awared that gangs were in Athens, but didn't want to acknowledge it for political reasons.

"If you admit you have a gang problem, you're going to have a hard time selling subdivisions," said Walter Marchant, an instructor with the Georgia Public Safety Training Center who specializes in gangs.

One veteran officer said he and others on the Athens-Clarke police force know better than to publicly use the four-letter ''G'' word.

"Our chief's policy is we don't have a gang problem," the officer said. "He seems to think if we acknowledge the problem, we will be promoting it in the community." The officer said it would be "career suicide" for any of his colleagues to publicly admit there are gangs in Athens.

County takes action
Whether or not those responsible for the graffiti near Clarke Central belong to organized gangs or are gang "wannabes," the fact it is so prominently displayed near the county's largest high school should set off alarm bells, according to Lt. David Spillers, who heads the Gainesville-Hall County Gang Task Force.

The task force, made up of representatives of the local police and sheriff's departments, the FBI, the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, was formed in 1998 in response to Hall County's burgeoning gang problem. At the time there were 24 gangs with up to 1,000 members, Spillers said, and now there are 12 to 14 gangs with a total membership of about 300.

"The graffiti is the most obvious sign that you have a gang problem," Spillers said. "I'm talking about graffiti that specifies a certain gang, and you already have a gang problem when it has grown to the point they are marking their territory, and it has to be dealt with harshly."

Marchant and Spillers agreed that it appeared as though Hispanics in Athens, especially Mexicans, have organized into gangs more along traditional lines than have other ethnic groups. Those identifying themselves with Sur 13 and Los Primos have adopted the trappings of the gang culture, including wearing similar dress, adorning themselves with gang tattoos and using hand signs.

Dangerous wannabes
Robert Walker, a former agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency who now consults on gangs, said youngsters that can be found in Athens as described to him should be a cause of concern.

"Do these kids have a gang name, gang colors, and gang tattoos?" he asked. "If so, I'll call them wannabes, just a bunch of kids out committing petty crimes, breaking into cars, selling a little dope. But too often it will take some serious assaults and maybe even murders to highlight that kind of activity in a community."

Walker maintains a Web site called "Gangs Or Us" that tries to educate the public about gangs. It can be found at www.gangsorus.com.

"Gangs can be found in almost every community in this country, large or small," Walker said. "Granted, it might not be on the scale of Chicago or L.A., but one gang is too many in any community. When you have them running around neighborhoods putting graffiti all over walls and houses, causing property values to decline, dealing in drugs and assaulting senior citizens, that's not something the community needs. And by denying the fact the gangs exist, it just gives the gangs a chance to build their power."

If a community does not publicly acknowledge gang activity in its neighborhoods, the battle has already been lost, said Spillers, a 22-year police veteran who has headed the Gainesville gang task force since its inception.

"The danger becomes the gangs literally taking over the community," Spillers said. "When they start tagging property with their graffiti, they are sending a message to other gangs and people who recognize that graffiti for what it is that they claim this property for their own. If you continue to ignore that, you implant in their minds that they're not going to be dealt with for their behavior."

"Parents and the whole county need to be aware that this is an issue," Gardner said.
"Athens doesn't want to admit we have gangs. I believe they're just not ready to deal with them," said a high school teacher who asked to remain anonymous for fear of putting his or her job at risk.

The teacher said anyone working in the school system who does not believe there is a gang problem would have to literally be blind not to see what is going on in classrooms and school hallways.

"They wear dark blue colors, the traditional rosary around their necks, they've got the tattoos, cuts into their eyebrows - real short buzz haircuts is pretty much in with the gang now, and they'll throw up their Sur Trece hand signal," the teacher said.

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, December 14, 2003.