Organized Gangs In Johnston County

I attended a presentation by Jason Lender, Clayton Police Department, this weekend on gang activities in Johnston County. I was surprised to learn that there are several gangs that are very active in our area.
Jason advised that Johnston County School Administration Officials have been slow to become active in the fight against gang activities in our schools.
There were two bills (House Bill 274 and Senate Bill 1358 ) in the state legislature this year but I do not believe either passed. One of the problems is in defining "gangs".
The gangs are moving into small town USA.
Has anyone seen any evidence of organized gang activities in their neighborhood?

 

I have not personally seen any gangs, but I probably would not know if we walked right past one another. My daughter and her boyfriend have stated to me that they know some in gangs and her boyfriend was actually at a fast food restaurant once, in Clayton, when it looked as though rivals were going to fight in the parking lot. He stated that he walked out to get in his car and some were near it, which made him stop. He said an elderly woman told the boys to move and they did. He got in his car and drove home. This is not firsthand knowledge on my part.

Grace

 

There are gang markings (marking their terrority) showing up around here on street signs on some trailer park & subdivsion entrance signs and even on the pavement on some roads.

 

Yeah, my son noted that at the Petsmart at White Oak yesterday when we were there that a gang had marked the sign over the cart corral. There were three letters spray painted in green on the sign. I don't remember what they were, though.

 

My daughter saw something at the Wendy's in Clayton as well. Gangs have been around for ever but I am amazed at how our children know what each one's markings are. Because of this Thread I am going to ask my daughter how she understands the markings. It should be an interesting conversation and "I" should learn alot.

Grace

 

There is a lot of real gang activity around here but it is also unfortunate that gangs are ‘cool’ &‘trendy’ right now and there are a lot of kids out there that are ‘want-to-be’s’. Some of it has to do with rap & hip-hop music being so popular that does glamorize the ‘street’ and ‘gang’ life styles.

It’s kind of like the 50’s when the movie industry helped to make motorcycle gangs cool with the younger generation and gangs like in the movie West Side Story all the rage.

 

Can you give us a link or something that we can read so that w can understand what to look for in the future? I feel clueless on whether someone has just spray painted on something or it is a gang marking. I, stated above, would not know one if we ran into each other...how would one know?

Grace

 

Toward the beginning of this school year there was a boy on my daughter's school bus that she said got on the bus, stripped off his top shirt which was black to reveal a red shirt, so that he was then dressed head to toe in red, and then flashed a gang hand sign. I don't remember which gang she said she thought it was. This same boy later assaulted a police officer during lunch at West Johnston High School and I don't think he has returned to school at this point.

 

I noticed awhile back that they had been busy tagging signs between Smithfield and Pine Level on Hwy. 70 Business. Kinda reminds me of a how a dog will take a leak on just about anything outside of his own yard.

 

haha nice

 

http://www.durhampolice.com/pdf/gang_awareness_booklet.pdf

 

Great Link .. thanks for posting it

 

That pamphlet seems to suggest that gang members are either black or hispanic.

 

Thank you so much for the link. If I saw a person with the three dime burns on the shoulder I would have thought it was from a vaccine. I am unsure what the Star of David tattoo has to do with a gang.

I do agree with tawaii that the Durham link showed minorities only. I think the Arion Nation (sp) would be considered a gang, at least in our house along with the New Black Panthers. I am still confused on the painting but maybe less is more.

I have not heard of the WJHS incident but will check on it. Our family is so lucky that my daughter has chosen a different path and stays away from these people.

Thanks so much for the information.

Grace

 

The fact is that most of the gang members around here are black or Hispanic. There are some white gang members, but they're a very small minority.

 

The Italians, Irish, Jews and most minority groups already had their runs at this.

 

I want to think that I read somewhere that it had to do with a high-ranking member of some particular gang that was gunned down or imprisoned...something like that...and his name was David. They adopted the 'star of David' as their symbol. To me, a lot of this stuff doesn't really make a lot of sense (the symbolism and all) but honestly, you have to keep in mind that usually you're dealing with immature minds, literally. When an adult male's brain does not fully mature until 20 or so, you apparently can have some ideas that doesn't necessarily make sense. That's really I guess the core of what makes gangs so dangerous. Kids with weapons and an atititude that society, at their ripe old age of 13 or so, has done them wrong.

I guess I'm kind of naive about this, but are there any anti-gang programs in elementary and middle school that attempt to reach children before they begin consideration of joinging a gang.

 

I just wanted to clarify that this seemed to be a very isolated incident, and my daughter said that it was just this one particular individual that seemed to have a problem, not that it is a rampant problem at this high school. Overall I have nothing but great things to say about the school.

 

Thanks for letting me know about the Star of David because I would think that would be a Jewish gang.

Also, thanks on the WJHS issue.

Grace

 

Declaring Star of David a Gang Symbol Is Bringing a Lawsuit

"PEOPLE AND THE FOLKS"

Star of David Barksdale