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Town Keeps Gangs Away
Prevention works in Vienna's anti-gang efforts
Donna Manz
November 20, 2007

"Vienna is no different from any other jurisdiction," said Vienna Chief of Police, Robert Carlisle. "Gangs are a regional problem; gang members don't have to live in a jurisdiction to cross into it.
"I think there is some gang activity in Vienna, but it is not related to criminal events."

Vienna has a dedicated police officer, Det. Jim Sheeran, assigned full-time to the Northern Virginia Gang Task Force, who investigates possible gang activity.

Carlisle has seen, in the past couple of years, arrests for gang-motivated activities and events go down.

"The regional gang problem is real and not solved, yet. It’s an ongoing issue, but there are signs of improvement. We see less arrests in Northern Virginia for gang activity, and if you take out graffiti arrests, the statistics go down even further," said Carlisle.

As recently as three or four years ago, you could see gangs flying their colors, said Sheeran, but no more. "Gangs aren’t as visibly present as they used to be," he says.
"The arrests are down for a multiple of factors," says Sheeran. "Gangs have a smaller pool to pull from; they are not able to do as much as they can in other places; and they’re not as open as they used to be."

The state code spells out what a gang is: a group of three or more people with common identifying traits, who has, as its primary purpose, criminal activity.

"GANG MEMBERS in Northern Virginia are different from gang members in other areas of the country," said Sheeran. "They have jobs, they work. Gangs here cross racial and economic lines."

Being in a gang is not in itself the crime. The First Amendment gives us the freedom to associate with whomever we want. It’s the criminal activities that gangs engage in that demand attention from law enforcement and the community.

"Gangs are just something to be aware of in Vienna," said Sheeran. "Gang members do live in Vienna, but are not openly engaged in criminal activity. We don’t have a lot of visible gang crime, and I don’t think we have a lot of hidden gang crime, either."

The reported decrease in arrests Carlisle attributes to the three-pronged program the Northern Virginia Gang Task Force is engaged in: suppression, intervention, and prevention.

"Suppression is typically what the public sees; it’s law enforcement going after gangs. There are laws against recruiting gang members. There are laws against loitering, disturbing the peace, drugs. We use all the tools available to disrupt gang activity."
The state code is our toolbox, added Sheeran.

Intervention, trying to get kids out of gangs before they become critical, is a broader "prong." Multiple resources are involved: schools, law enforcement, health providers, community, and, mostly, family. If the school or a police officer suspects a child is ripe for gang recruitment, a gang task force member makes contact with parents. Sheeran works closely with School Resource Officers (SROs) to identify at-risk students.

"When we make that contact with parents about concerns, we want and need parental involvement and cooperation," said Carlisle. "We ask the parents to look for indications of gang affiliation and we provide the families with intervention contacts."

A police officer will make referrals to a gang coordinator who pulls resources from schools, juvenile intake, social workers, probation and parole services, substance abuse counselors, housing assisters, mental health counselors, and even umbrella organizations.
"We try to provide the social support the kids need to get them out of gangs," said Carlisle. "It could be helping the kids find a job or helping them get a gang tattoo removed.

"What are we going to do to make these kids successful?" asks Carlisle. "All of these organizations working together are the solution to the problem."

"Gangs fill a void in a young person’s life," said Carlisle. "All kids want to be successful at something, whether it’s academics, sports, arts or some other skill. It’s the kids who have no successes, low self-esteem, little family support, that we worry about."

AS A MEMBER of the Police Chiefs Foundation, Carlisle helps to identify at-risk rising 10th graders for inclusion in a one-week education program held at Virginia Tech, in cooperation with the university’s Pamplin School of Business. Last year, Carlisle had the funding to send two local students to the program. Many of these high-risk students go on to college, said Carlisle.
Prevention of gang activity and recruitment mitigates the need for suppression and intervention, he contends.
"Before you can take steps at prevention, you have to figure out what the issues are," said Carlisle. "They’re not the same for all kids.

"Academic problems: why? Maybe there’s a disability, maybe there’s no family support or even stable housing. Is it substance abuse?

"Kids with social problems may suffer from a lack of parental involvement or understanding, or possibly, the kid is bullied for some reason.

"You have to first identify the kids’ issues and problems."

"One reason gangs don’t control our areas is the work of the patrol officers and the gang task force," said Sheeran. "You don’t have gangs taking over street corners or neighborhoods here. Our main goal is to keep them from doing anything significant on an organized level.

"We look at indicators that suggest there is someone we need to talk to," said Sheeran. "We locate that person, make contact. We ask them, ‘What gang are you claiming?’ A lot of police work is being able to talk to people and get them to tell you what’s going on."

Vienna police officers investigate graffiti as thoroughly as they would any other crime.

"Responding officers do an initial assessment of the graffiti," said Carlisle. "The officer takes digital pictures of the graffiti and the photos become part of the case record. A lot of it is juvenile prank stuff or graffiti ‘art.’ An officer recognizes ‘Tommy loves Sally’ as that type of stuff.

"ANYTHING QUESTIONABLE we forward to Jim [Sheeran] for analysis. Gangs have their own markings, and we look at all elements of the graffiti. If Jim isn’t comfortable, he can confer with other task force members or other law enforcement people around the country.

"Sometimes, people try to imitate gang markings. Of the graffiti we have had in Vienna, my guesstimate is that 95 percent or better is not gang-related."

Sheeran describes three types of graffiti. Gang graffiti are markings of a particular gang, to threaten, to stake out territory, to announce their presence. Taggers’ goals are to say to the world, "I’m here." Whether it’s a name, a so-and-so loves another so-and-so, or a high school pride kind of thing, it’s kids with too much time on their hands. So-called art graffiti is created by someone who wants an audience for his artwork.

Sheeran explains the manner in which graffiti is addressed. First, "read," recognizing what the graffiti says.

Second, "report," documenting it. Third, "record," using photos to document what it is and where it is; look for multiple locations. Last, "remove," take it down and paint it over.

Even the most innocuous of graffiti violates the community conscience and the police department charges alleged perpetrators when they’re identified. Vienna’s public works department responds quickly to paint over graffiti, and local businesses cooperate in clean-up of their own property.

As for the accusations by a few that illegal immigrants are fueling an increase in gang activity and crime in Vienna, Carlisle and Sheeran ask how one can tell a legal resident from an illegal one simply by looking at him.
Carlisle emphasizes that no area is immune from gang infiltration, that vigilance and cohesion among all social resources are integral to weakening and discouraging gang involvement and activity. To vigilance and cohesion, Sheeran adds "constant pressure on the gangs." A couple of months letting up on them, Sheeran says, and they’ll grow stronger.

"There’s no magic force field to keep the bad guys out of Vienna," said Sheeran. "They drive down 123, use our gas stations, our banks and our grocery stores. They’re here even if they don’t live here.
"But, we’re always vigilant."

All Americans should watch this video:

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=6314

From: http://theredhunter.com/2006/05/an_election_in_vienna.php

"There are exceptions, of course. In Herndon VA, not too far from Vienna, politicians who supported a "day laborer" (read "illegal alien") center were thrown out"

Remember the Alamo....