Chapel Hill targets gangs

Police say it's time for a special unit

CHAPEL HILL -- Even in this college town, better known for shady lanes than gritty back streets, police are bracing themselves for gangs.

The Chapel Hill Police Department, with help from the state, is establishing a gang unit of sorts.

More and more, patrol officers have encountered people who claim membership in a gang.

It now happens routinely, Capt. Chris Blue said.

"We don't have an epidemic problem by any stretch," he said. "But we do have a presence."

Unlike the neighboring Durham Police Department, which has a 30-officer squad dedicated to gangs, the Chapel Hill police will focus on developing gang expertise among certain officers.

The department wants at least one officer on each shift trained to analyze gang-related activity -- just as some specialize in domestic violence or evidence processing. Two have been trained so far.

A $50,000 grant from the Governor's Crime Commission will help pay for training, extra hours and community outreach sessions.

Similar grants have gone to certain rural communities, such as Henderson and Reidsville, as well as vacation spots such as Wilmington and North Topsail Beach.

"We don't have that established gang history here," said Mitch McKinney, a Chapel Hill police officer heading the department's gang effort. "We've been kind of the last bastion. That's starting to erode now."

Chapel Hill police see most of this as prevention. Though gang graffiti have turned up "in almost every neighborhood," Blue said, gangs are far from entrenched in Chapel Hill, and police know of no gang that originated in town.

Gang activity spikes, however, when Chapel Hill's nightclubs let out and during massive street festivals.

"During the last six months to a year, we've seen a lot of gang presence at the downtown clubs," Maj. Brian Curran said.

Police also noticed an influx of gang members when the town's annual Apple Chill street fair ended after nightfall. Called "After Chill," the post-party gathering has several times turned violent.

In April, after three men were shot on Apple Chill weekend, the town voted to end the fair.

And during the town's unofficial Halloween street party, which has attracted as many as 70,000 people, gang members come in from Durham, Charlotte and Greensboro, Curran said.

Police have seen men claiming to be in Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, considered one of the nation's most deadly gangs.

But police need training to sort out the bona fide gang members from those who fake the lifestyle or teenagers just dressing the part.

"Gang subculture has transcended youth culture now," McKinney said. "It's very faddish for kids to portray themselves as gang members."

Know the pretenders

During lengthy interviews, trained officers will use 11 "validating criteria" to determine whether someone is a legitimate gang member. "Self-admittance" is just one of them.

The department will also train more officers to use "GangNet," an online database of known gang members. Many details are catalogued, even aliases and tattoos.

Though officers want to track real gangsters, Blue said, they can't dismiss the "wannabes," who could be future gang members, or the teenagers who want to prove themselves with crime.

They also don't want to unfairly label youngsters just wearing the hip-hop "uniform."

"It's easy to look at white shirts and baggy pants and see gang activity," said Delores Bailey, director of the EmPOWERment community development agency.

From porches in Northside, one of Chapel Hill's historically black neighborhoods, Bailey sees teenagers with the hip-hop dress and gait all the time.

Part of the police department's mission is to help community leaders such as Bailey -- as well as teachers and church leaders -- spot true gang activity.

"If the police sharpen their skills and tell me, 'Delores, that's a gang sign,' then I'm better for knowing it," Bailey said.

"Some of these kids are drug dealers," she said, "and some are just hanging out because they don't have a place to be."