Are there alot of gangs in your area? Would you even be able to recognize if there were gangs in your area? I used to be a counselor for teenage gang members (one of several previous social work jobs). I was talking with my older DD (in her 20's) about a year ago and we were talking about gangs and she tells me there are no gangs in ........where she lives. I am like ok you must live under a rock because I see them everywhere I go, LOL. Soon after that conversation that towns police force started a gang task force with police offercers that only deal with gangs the problem had gotten so bad. Years ago back in the day the gang members would show their colors matching jackets etc. then in the 80's they went to wearing the sports team jackets to denote their gangs. These days it's very subtle, could be something as simple as having a pants leg rolled up, or a certain color shoe laces in your shoe, or wearing your ball cap on backwards (something that is not allowed in alot of shopping malls), wearing a certain type shoe, wearing something hanging out of your pocket, it's goes on and on. Gangs are so prevailent these days, I was just wondering if you could spot a gang member or like my DD didn't have a clue. This particular DD was not sheltered, she had used alot of drugs/alcohol hung with a rough crowd and stayed out until all hours in the night, lived in large cities most of her life, went to school with gang members, had metal detectors in school back in the 80's, drug dogs were standard, gang members on the streets were standard, but she didn't have a clue about gang members today. Could you spot a gang member?

Could I spot a gang member? No. I am so naive! I work in a high school and every so often we get e-mails from our SROs, like "don't let kids carry towels around" or " don't let them roll up their pant legs". I know we have gang members in schools, I know a couple of guys that are. The deal in our school is: don't bring gang stuff to school and we're friends.

I can spot where they mark their terroritory. Around here some of them throw a pair of sneakers tied together over the electrical/telephone lines over the streets.

My son is in law enforcement and he has told us some horrifying stories that don't get out in the public. Gangs are everywhere.

One gang that is especially scary is MS-13.

in the smaller town i live in they have been saying for at least ten years that we do not have a gang problem in our town! saying it proudly like we don't have to worry about it but the signs are obvious and even getting to be more obvious in the "rich" part of town with their signs and symbols and stuff. when my dd was in seventh grade she would tell me about all the stuff in school and that was a big part of her/our decision to homeschool last year because the school seemed incapable of controlling the problem. it's getting scary!

I notice you live in Virginia, that is where I was a counselor, in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area, we used to get kids from all over in for treatment, alot of gang members from DC were sent to us and we had alot from Norfolk and Virginia Beach, we would get them after they served their sentence to try and help integrate them back into society, it was in-patient treatment. My DD went to Maury High and the gang problem in that area was terrrible, it was not bad in my direct neighborhood, Larchmont/Edgewater, but you only had to go a few blocks down towards the downtown area and it was bad.

I am like mom2twins2 and can spot where they mark their territory. I live in an area where many want to believe that they are not here BUT their "signs" are all over the place if you just look for them. Plus, we just had a recent scare at the local high school where a gang from another city was supposed to come out to the high school and retaliate for something that had happened. My son sent me a text message and asked me to please come get him from school because he was worried. I went to get him and was amazed at all of the law enforcement that were there at the school. They were not taking the threat lightly and luckily nothing happened because of their efforts. I hoped that scare would "waken" others up to the fact that gangs are here BUT they still act like they do not exist.

As for MS-13, they are one of the only gangs that I am truly afraid of after talking to different law enforcement officers about them. I have been told stories about what they do to each other and shudder to think about what they would do to an "outsider" of the gang.

Debbie

Sneakers over telephone lines doesn't necessarily mean gangs. It can mean that a death occured in that area or kids moving from middle to high school. It can mean gang territory or drugs sold here but it's not a definate sign of gangs.


As far as OP- Yes I know what most gang members look like. It has gotten more subtle in the last 15 years. I'm sure I've talked to gang members and wasn't aware of it. My kids are still elementary so I'm sure I will need to be more observant when middle and high school comes around but for now I'm not that concerned.

[quote=MaggiesFarm;2814306]Sneakers over telephone lines doesn't necessarily mean gangs. It can mean that a death occured in that area or kids moving from middle to high school. It can mean gang territory or drugs sold here but it's not a definate sign of gangs.
QUOTE]

I have one of those down the road from me I hope it is a kid moving from middle school to highschool. A friend of mine said it meant drugs.

I am sure there are gangs in our city. Could I spot them? Not sure, because who I might think appear to be what a gang member would look like just might be a chosen style of clothing for this person.

I don't know of any in our tiny town. I'm sure there are a lot of troublemakers, but not really "gangs'.
However , my son-in-law's uncle was mugged (today, or yesterday), just going out for his usual morning walk. They were teenagers, maybe a gang, I don't know. He lives in a bigger city and altho I don't know exactly where he lives, I am sure it's in a decent part of town. I would guess that if they were from his neighborhood, it would surprise him.

__________________
Square dancing is friendship set to music!

we are in a smaller city--there are NO homeless people or "gangs" here.

There are also no "shoes over the telephone lines" here either.

That said, the shoes on the line do not signify gangs...it signifies a drug hookup area...and usually it's in a remote section of the city or on the outskirts closer to some of the farms.

I have always found that kind of strange--that we have no homeless people here...must be because this city is more affluent than others in the surrounding area.

__________________
SPJRNTGADL!

I'm picturing something sort of like GTA: San Andreas, but usually, it's not like that. I'm not sure how much a secret sign of criminal activity can mean if we're talking about it here. I mean, if a group of couponers can figure it out, the cops probably knew about it years ago. Things that started out as criminal or drug-related tend to trickle down to bored kids and popular fashion after not too long.

We're in a recently expanded rural area, so we've got a lot of poser kids, but most of the criminal activity we have isn't so well organized. We do have some pretty ancient gangs nearby, though. I suppose most of the crime in this area is smuggling things to and from Mexico; people, drugs, and firearms.

Boy am I naive. I never knew that sneakers over a telephone line was anything gang or drug related. I just thought it was a bunch of kids (maybe hooligans) having fun. I guess I better get with it!

Although I wouldn't know a gang member if I saw one, I know that we have some gangs in town. A few months ago I remember hearing that there are members of the MS-13 gang here. I know they are extremely violent and just thinking about them being here scares me.

Northern Virginia is really prevalent with gangs. It's so scary how kids are so young when they're geting into them and then they can't get out. Our son gave us a DVD about MS-13 and gang members were interviewed and an undercover agent went in with a hidden camera. It showed the initiation process which was horrible. They literally beat them to a pulp. It told also about the girl (you probably read about it in the paper), who was found dead in Virginia out in the woods by a creek murdered by her 'friends'. It turned out she started talking about her gang (MS-13), showed her talking on camera. I can't remember if she gave names or what. They murdered her. The gang members that killed her were caught. My son is stationed out near the coast in Virginia. He said MS-13 likes to meet out near boat docks, in the woods, out near water, and they've been told never to confront them alone if they come up on a gang meeting.

I live in Miami...what do you think? I know they are here but I would not be able to pick one out. I also have homeless people that beg at almost every intersection on US 1. Then again we also have boatloads of people trying to get the the USA and the coast guard stopping them, that make national news. Miami is interesting place to say the least.

shoes thrown over the telephone lines here means school is out and kids can go barefooted again. man. are we waaaaaayyyyyyyyyy out. lol.

__________________
·´`·.(*·.¸(`·.¸ ¸.·´)¸.·*).·´`·
«·´¨*·.¸¸. Jo ¸¸.·*¨`·»
«·´`·.(¸.·´(¸.·* *·.¸)`·.¸).·´`·»


Please leave feedback for me here.
http://www.mycoupons.com/boards/g-l/...-littlejo.html



gretchengirl@gmail.com

http://lifewithlittlejo.blogspot.com/